Friend or Foe?
by Marimba Buddy
Summary: Humphrey has a secret. He was once part of a terrorist group known as the Black Assassins. Why? Only one way to find out.
1. Mark of the Black Assassins

Friend or Foe?

**Chapter 1-Mark of the Black Assassins **

Humphrey sat outside his and Kate's den, thinking. He was happy, for he loved Kate, being with her. He loved everything about her. Her eyes, her laugh, her personality.

Jasper Park had seen a lot since the joining of the two packs. Humphrey had always been there when he was needed, for Kate and the park.

There was one thing Humphrey had never told Kate, about his temporary involvement in terrorist group a little while back. He felt it would scare and upset her, and he didn't want that. Yet it kept biting at him, begging for him to reveal his secret to the world. He always kept it to himself, but it was getting harder and harder every day. Something would have to be done about it eventually.

"Hey."

Humphrey turned and saw Kate walking toward him.

"Hi, Kate."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Humphrey said.

"You seem down today. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm just…thinking."

"About what?"

He looked into her eyes. Should he tell her? He hesitated. Finally, he said, "You'll find out soon enough."

Suddenly, a scream sounded from over near the den. Humphrey jumped up and ran over to see what was going on, Kate following him.

A small female wolf was whimpering on the ground near the pond.

"Lindsey!" Humphrey cried. "What's wrong?"

"I was getting a drink from the pond," Lindsey said in a shaky voice, "and someone hit me on the back of the head."

"Who was it?" Kate asked, catching up with Humphrey.

"I don't know," Lindsey replied.

"You didn't see his face?" Humphrey asked.

"Not clearly," said Lindsay. "He was black and brown with a missing tooth."

Humphrey stared. He knew who that was. Something had to be done that day.

"What he do then?" Kate asked Lindsey.

"Take some water," Lindsey said. "I don't know why he wanted it, but he apparently did."

Humphrey turned to Kate and said, "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere important. Please, I've got something I need to take care of."

He turned and walked into the forest leaving Kate string after him, wondering where he was going.

* * *

><p>Humphrey walked through the familiar part of the forest, eager to find who he was looking for. He hadn't seen this wolf for nearly four months, and that was after a deadly fight that nearly killed both of them.<p>

A pile of brown rocks greeted Humphrey in an unfriendly way. It was the entrance to the hideout. Humphrey walked through them and into the cave of the old terrorist group he had once worked for, the Black Assassins.

"Okay, I've got the water. Now what, sir?" the wolf Lindsey had described asked his boss, Jerry. Blood rushed to Humphrey's head when he saw him.

"Nothing for now, Carl," Jerry said. "You're on break. Tell Eric to get in here, now."

"Yes, sir."

Humphrey hid behind a rock as Carl passed him.

Jerry laid down, determined to relax.

"Comfortable?"

Jerry looked up. Humphrey was standing a few feet from him, a stony look on his face.

"You!" Jerry jumped and slashed at Humphrey, who ducked and moved out of the way. Jerry pounced at him but missed again as Humphrey stepped out of the way.

"Why are you here?" Jerry shouted. "Did Jason abandon you?"

"No, we're still friends," Humphrey said.

"Figures," Jerry said. "The two traitors always remain friends. What do you want?"

"I want to ask what your chief, Carl, was doing inside Jasper perimeters," Humphrey said. "I thought you were out of your evil plans."

"_Was_," said Jerry. "I've got another, not that you'll stop this one anyhow."

"You're still the same, aren't you, Jerry?"

"Of course," said Jerry. "And so are you. After all, you never were one of us. You never were a Black Assassin."

"You're right, I wasn't," said Humphrey. "I just knew you up to something bad and the only way to stop you was to dive straight in."

"And how did you find out my plan?" Jerry said.

Humphrey smiled and said, "I think you already know the answer to that."

Jerry's expression changed. He looked definite.

"Of course. Surely Jason would've told you everything if he was a traitor all along, too. Even when I ask him to steal a small electrical box, he was a traitor then, too. That's where you met him, right?"

Humphrey nodded. "Right."


	2. A New Friend & New Enemies

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 2-A New Friend & New Enemies**

_Seven Months Earlier_…

Humphrey was tired. He walked through a forest somewhere south of Jasper Park, searching. Why was the forest completely cleansed of food? What was happening?

A loud scraping noise was coming from a nearby shed. Humphrey wondered what it could possibly be. He peered around the shed and saw a small brown wolf with a black band around his leg trying to tear an electric box off the side of the shed.

He pulled but it didn't budge. After a few seconds of straining, he tried again but received the same results with the addition of a cut paw.

"Damn it!" he said. "Why won't this thing just come off easily?"

"Maybe you should try unlatching the side," Humphrey found himself saying, emerging. The wolf saw him and panicked.

"Who are you?" he shouted. "What do you want?"

"I'm just passing by and thought you could use a little help," Humphrey said.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I never saw any latch anywhere on this thing!"

"It's right there," Humphrey said, reaching up and grabbing it with his teeth. He pulled it up and it slid open. "Now you want to disconnect this…" he pulled something out of the back. The whole thing fell forward but still hung on by a few wires. "…and then remove this," he said, pulling the wires out of the back. It fell to the ground.

"Wow," said the wolf. "That seemed pretty easy."

"Yeah, it is," said Humphrey. "I've learned some things in the past six months."

"Oh yeah? Where're you from?"

"Jasper Park."

"Really?" the wolf said. "From what I heard, that place is really dangerous."

"Yeah, right now it is, at least."

"What's your name?"

"Humphrey."

"Cool. Mine's Jason," replied the wolf.

"Where are you from?"

Jason hesitated. "I don't know. I've been on my own for a long while, until I found this group called the Black Assassins. I've worked for them for about a year now."

"The Black Assassins? What's that?"

"This group that travels all over the place? Our goal is domination, but we haven't been real successful at that yet. All our plans fail, for some reason. Probably the faulty plans. Jerry, our leader, is a really good guy…" his face showed a different expression, however, "…but he hasn't gotten a foolproof plan yet."

"Where is he?"

"Back at our hideout. Which reminds me, I'd better get going. I have to get this back to him immediately!"

He picked up the box and was about to run off when Humphrey stopped him.

"Wait."

He stopped.

Something wasn't right. _Domination_? Didn't sound good. Humphrey had a feeling this was a terrorist group. And even though they weren't top-notch, they were probably powerful and not easy to take down. How to get close to the master plan without alerting anybody? A thought came to Humphrey's head.

"Hey, do you guys, by any chance, have room for another member?"

Jason looked puzzled. "Why?"

"Because I think what you guys are doing sounds interesting," Humphrey lied. "Got any room for one more."

Jason thought about it. "Well, you'll have to get permission from Jerry. But he's not usually the one to just accept new members because they're _interested_. Sorry, but I don't think it's gonna happen."

Humphrey sighed. What now?

"Hey, can't you just—?"

A loud growling came from off to the right. Humphrey and Jason both looked and saw a grizzly bear staring them down, blood in its mouth from its last kill.

"Just stay still," Humphrey said, but he looked over and realized he had said it to no one. Jason had taken off up a hill.

Humphrey started to run after him and he heard the loud roaring coming from behind him. The bear was tailing him closely.

Jason was still running up ahead. He was pretty fast, but Humphrey still found himself catching up to him.

"Jason," Humphrey said, almost out of breath already as he was side-by-side with him. "We're gonna have to make a dive."

"Dive where?" Jason said, the box slipping out of his mouth.

"Into a bush or something, I don't know."

The box fell out of Jason's mouth at that moment. He stopped, and Humphrey did too.

"Jason, come on! That bear will kill you!"

"I can't leave the box!" Jason said.

"That bear will kill you!" Humphrey repeated with more emphasis.

"If I go back without the box, Jerry's gonna kill me!"

"If you stay here, you'll be dead anyway!" Humphrey shouted.

The bear stopped at Jason and looked down at him hungrily.

"Uh, Humphrey?" Jason called over his shoulder nervously. "How are you with bears?"

Humphrey sighed and walked forward. "Hey, have you heard the one with the bears and the clown?"

The bear growled.

"Okay," said Humphrey. "Let's try plan B."

"How many plans do you have?" Jason asked.

"Three," replied Humphrey.

Humphrey walked up to the bear and said, "Did I mention how great your kid is?"

The bear roared.

"Okay," said Humphrey again. "That was dumb one anyway. Let's see, is there anything else besides plan C?"

The bear swatted Humphrey to the side, knocking him against a tree.

Jason made a break for the box, but the bear grabbed it and roared ferociously.

Humphrey looked over at the bear with the box and Jason looking scared.

"Okay, plan C it is."

Humphrey ran over and jumped onto the bear's neck. The bear growled and tried shaking him off, but it didn't work. Humphrey very gently sank his teeth into the bear's neck, causing it to cry out with pain. Then, he removed his teeth and pressed on the wound hard. The bear was swiping everywhere like mad, causing Jason to have to take several steps back. Then, the bear closed its eyes and fell to the ground unconscious.

Humphrey jumped down and grabbed the box.

"Man, that was awesome!" Jason said, running over to him.

"Here." Humphrey gave the box to Jason.

"Thanks, man!" Jason looked at Humphrey and thought. "Listen, if Jerry knew you could fight like that, he'd probably put you in the group no problem!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, man! With your skills, there's no way this next plan will fail." Humphrey thought he heard Jason add under his breath, "…_unfortunately_."

"So, you'll take me to your hideout then?"

"Sure thing. It's just up this way. Come on!"

* * *

><p>After about fifteen minutes of a walk, the two of them came across a cave entrance guarded by rocks.<p>

"Just in here," said Jason, leading Humphrey inside.

They emerged in large clearing filled with other wolves, each with their own black band around their legs. There must have been fifty. All of them talking about their accomplishments amongst each other, laughing at some of the pain they had caused. A handful of them looked up as Humphrey and Jason passed.

In the center of the clearing were three wolves. One was large and mainly black and brown. He had an intimidating look. Another was medium-sized and somewhat orange in color. Something about him made him seem weird. The one in the center, completely black, looked up.

"Jason!" he said. "It's good to see you've returned with the supplies. And who is this?"

"Jerry," said Jason, "this is Humphrey. He's interested in our plans so I thought I'd show him our group."

"Oh, really?" Jerry said. "And how, exactly, did Humphrey come across you?"

"Well, he helped me remove this contraption," Jason said, indicating the box on the floor.

"That's it?" the large brown and black one said. "He just helped you get that thing off? Jason, you realize you're the only one here who doesn't know how to do something simple like that?"

"I never learned," replied Jason.

"Pipe down, Carl," Jerry told the large wolf, who gave Humphrey and Jason a cold look.

"Yes," said Jerry. "Well, he needs to be good for something else."

"He is!" Jason insisted. "He fought off a bear that attacked us and almost stole the box."

With that, he launched into the whole story. Jerry looked perplexed.

"A bear knock-out, huh?" he said, suddenly looking upon Humphrey with interest. "That's interesting. Alright, Humphrey. We'll put you to work tomorrow. Complete the test runs and we'll go from there."

"But, sir…" Carl began to protest.

"Don't _sir_ me," Jerry said.

Carl backed down again.

"Eric," Jerry told the other wolf with orange fur. "I want you to gather up these mongrels," he indicated toward the watching wolves. "It's dinner time, and there are a lot of caribou around here from what I've heard."

Eric nodded manically and ran off, shouting, "Come on, let's move!"

"Jason," said Jerry. "Show Mister Humphrey to his quarters."

Jason started to walk off. Humphrey made to follow, but Carl put his paw out.

"Don't try anything funny," he snarled in Humphrey's ear. "Jerry may be satisfied with your abilities, but it takes a lot to impress me. Don't try anything funny. Not tomorrow, not ever."

Humphrey walked off, happy to get away from him.

"I apologize for that," Jason said as they walked into another section of the cave, emerging in a smaller room. "Carl can be a bit paranoid sometimes. He's just jealous because he feels everybody new is gonna try to take over and become Jerry's new chief. Anyway, you'll be bunking in here with me."

"Okay," said Humphrey.

"Come on," Jason said. "Those caribou aren't gonna catch themselves."

* * *

><p>That night, Humphrey slept with two things on his mind: what training was going to be like and Kate. He shouldn't tell her about this about all of it was over. He wanted her to be happy, and the Black Assassins might worry her about him, and he didn't want that. He fell asleep with Kate on his mind.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> So, an interesting start. Will Carl still be suspicious of Humphrey? What's up with Eric? That's all in the next chapter.


	3. Training Day

Friend or Foe?

**Chapter 3-Training Day**

Humphrey awoke the following morning. It took him a minute to realize where he was, then he remembered the previous day's events. He wondered what training would be like. He'd never trained in a terrorist group before.

Jason stirred on the other side of the room and opened his eyes.

"Hey, Humphrey," he said, jumping up. "Ready for today?"

"I guess so," Humphrey said. Although he was mainly confident, he did feel a little nervous.

"Don't worry, brother," Jason said. "You're the first wolf I've ever met that could take down a full grown bear. You handle Jerry's training programs like you did the bear, and you should have nothing to worry about."

* * *

><p>Humphrey walked out into the main clearing.<p>

"Just the wolf I wanted to see," said Jerry, who was standing next to Carl. "Okay, Humphrey. I've got three min challenges for you. They're the same as for everyone else so I'll let Carl talk you through it."

'_Great_,' Humphrey thought, looking at Carl who was staring back at Humphrey grimly.

"Alright, I'll leave you two to it," said Jerry, walking off into a tunnel.

"Okay, Humphrey," said Carl in a rough voice. "Don't give me any trouble, and I won't gut you in your sleep."

"O-kay," said Humphrey. He was starting to feel really awkward with the whole thing.

Carl looked angered. "Don't be funny! I'm not Jerry's chief because I put up with funny people!" He gave Humphrey an unfriendly look. "There are three challenges, one for each of the _S_'s. One challenge to test your speed, one to test your strength, and one for your stealth."

When Humphrey nodded, Carl said, "Let's test your speed first. Follow me."

* * *

><p>Outside the cave, Carl and Humphrey stood in front of a path of logs placed in the middle of the path. Some were situated so they were higher elevated, creating a small obstacle course.<p>

"Get through here in five minutes or less," said Carl, walking around them to the end. "And don't waste any time. Time lost in the field is time we can never…_ever_…get back."

Humphrey glared after Carl, and then proceeded with the exercise. It wasn't really that tricky. He had been through this a lot at Jasper. His reflexes had grown since the two packs had been joined. Avoiding logs in his way was a simple task. He found Carl waiting impatiently at the end.

"You took your time!" he spat. "C'mon. Next is the strength test."

Humphrey followed Carl to another part of the path. It held nothing but a small hill with three giant logs on the top.

"Okay, Humphrey," Carl said. "I'm going to unleash these logs and they will fall towards you. I want you to push them back up the hill and over the edge."

"Wait, you're going to—?"

Carl had already released the rope and three huge logs came rolling down toward Humphrey. He stopped them when they reached him but they were too heavy. He found himself sliding backwards.

Carl was snickering. Humphrey grew angry. Carl was just sitting there laughing at all the pain Humphrey was enduring. Gathering up as much strength as possible, Humphrey threw his weight at the logs, sending them back up the hill and causing Carl to have to dive to the side. He got up, looking enraged.

"Why, you—!" He pulled himself together. "Okay, then, Humphrey. It's time for the hardest test of all, the stealth test. You can't go anywhere without being as silent as possible."

He swiped at Humphrey, causing him to have to jump back. He landed on a twig and it snapped loudly.

"See?" said Carl. "That was loud. You need to be quieter than that." He turned and walked off.

He was starting to get on Humphrey's nerves. That wasn't part of the test, just a way to irk him. He couldn't let that get to him. He remembered what Jason said. It was all jealousy. Nothing more.

"Hey, hurry it up, rookie!" Carl called back to him. "We don't have all day! Jerry's going over the plan for tomorrow and I don't want to miss it because you're lagging everywhere!"

Humphrey ran up to Carl, who was staring at him as if he were a fly irking him in every way.

"Okay, I've got five of my top members in this part of the woods. I want each of them tagged on the back without them knowing you're there."

"Just a back tag?" Humphrey asked. "This is a top-notch group. I was expecting something more than that."

Carl glared at him. "Nice try, but we're not injuring our enforcements just for training. Just a tag, nothing more. I'll be watching form a discreet location. Don't try anything, or you'll be sorry."

Carl stalked off, disappearing into a shadow. Humphrey turned and immediately saw two wolves roaming nearby, in different locations. Humphrey hid behind a tree. If he didn't pass this test, Carl would, no doubt, give Jerry a bad report and ruin the whole thing.

The two wolves approached each other.

"So, what do you think of the new one?" one asked.

"What new one?" the other wolf responded.

"The new recruit. This Humphrey that Jason's been speaking highly of."

"Man, Jason's probably off on a whack again," the second wolf said. "He gets too close to everyone sometimes. And when that happens, he doesn't know the difference between his friends and his enemies."

"Yeah, but still…"the first wolf said. "I'm getting pretty suspicious of him. It seems like he's not into the plan. Any of the plans, really. I think he's plotting something against us."

"Paranoia!" said the second wolf. "That's all it is, paranoia. You need to calm down."

"Yeah, I guess so," the first wolf said, and they walked in separate directions, the first one walking up toward the tree Humphrey was hiding behind.

Humphrey was still processing what he had just heard. He had known something was up with Jason. The muttered "_Unfortunately_" seemed all too suspicious. Humphrey was still deep in thought, until an accidental scrape on the bark brought him back to where he was.

"Huh?" The wolf began peering behind the tree, but Humphrey slid around the other side and gave the wolf a pat on the back.

The wolf sighed. "Guess that's the end of my shift, then." He walked off.

Humphrey noticed the other wolf over about fifty feet staring into a bush. Humphrey walked over and tagged him as well.

"Ah, I've been tagged," he said, looking at Humphrey and walking after the first wolf.

Humphrey walked through the remainder of the forest. He tagged two more of the remaining wolves with ease, both of whom shrugged and walked toward the cave. The fifth wolf, however, seemed nowhere in sight.

"Where—?" Humphrey said, getting a little nervous. That wolf could be watching him at that moment, and giving Carl an excuse to tell Jerry not to accept him.

Humphrey heard movement behind him. Turning around told him the wolf was there, and sure enough there was dark movement in a shrub.

The wolf then stepped out, glancing in Humphrey's direction slightly, and Humphrey leapt into a bush as the wolf turned to face the direction of the movement.

Though he could not see it, Humphrey imagined Carl sitting somewhere, watching the on-goings, shaking his head and saying something like "Pathetic."

The wolf approached the bush, staring in, and then turning around. Humphrey took his chance and reached out. The wolf suddenly turned and looked Humphrey dead in the eyes. Panicking, Humphrey reached out and gave the wolf a huge tag on the back,

"Unbelievable!" came Carl's irritated voice from somewhere, and he emerged a few moments later from the shadows. "You can't even handle five wolves without being seen! What good will that do on the job, huh?"

"Relax, Carl," said Jerry, who had emerged behind Carl. "I think he's got skill. He's the first I've ever seen to be spotted yet go through with the take-down, or in this case tag, successfully."

Carl grunted angrily.

"No, he's good," Jerry continued. "Humphrey, congratulations, you're in. Now, come inside. We've got things we go over about tomorrow."

He turned and walked toward the cave. Carl and the tagged wolf followed behind him. Carl shot Humphrey a look of jealousy as he passed.

Humphrey followed them back to the cave, in which all of the wolves were gathered.

"Okay," said Jerry, taking his place in the center as Humphrey, Carl, and the other wolf took their places. "First of all, our assignment tomorrow will be joined by our new recruit, Humphrey."

Everyone made loud cheering and howling noises. Humphrey felt a huge pat on the back.

"Way to go, brother," Jason said. "You're one of us now."

"Yeah," said Humphrey, still detecting something suspicious in Jason's voice.

"So, he will be joining us on or assignment tomorrow," Jerry said. "For those of you who don't know what the plan is, you don't need to yet. It's strictly confidential until the time is right. But first, we need equipment. That's tomorrow's goal. You'll be further briefed later."

"Where's the plan going down?" one wolf across the clearing asked.

"Up the hill," said Jerry. "I still don't want to give too much away, but everyone will be in debt if we owned all of the world's electricity."

"Electricity?" another wolf asked. "What do we do with it?"

"We keep it for ourselves, powering our own structures, and keeping it isolated from the rest of the world."

"Why?" a third wolf asked.

"A little bargaining chip," said Jerry. "Now, I want to discuss how we'll be dividing this little assignment tomorrow. Team One, you'll be traveling down to the Sharenkowl Warehouse in Montana. That's where Frederick will be. Humphrey, you're with them."

Humphrey nodded. Jerry turned to the other side of the clearing.

"Team Two, Carl will lead you to that little cottage where the Northern Persuaders hang out. You know, up by the Peace River."

Carl nodded, as did many of the other wolves.

"Great," said Jerry. "That's settled, then. I'll see you all before action in the morning."

* * *

><p>Humphrey was laying in his room with Jason snoring loudly in his ear. He was wondering what sort of challenges he would have to pursue on his assignment the following day in Montana. He rolled over and fell into a soothing dream. It was a dream about Kate. Just as quickly as the happiness came, it vanished. How would she react to him doing this? The thought scared him. He continued to sleep, but pondered how he would manage through the whole thing.<p> 


	4. First Assignment: Sharenkowl Warehouse

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 4-First Assignment: Sharenkowl Warehouse**

Humphrey walked over to Jerry the next morning.

"Humphrey! Glad to see you up and about for today!"

"Thanks," said Humphrey.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You'll be needing this." He held out a small earpiece. Humphrey looked down at it.

"What's this for?"

"You'll need it for your assignments. Keeps you in touch with everyone else."

"Where'd you get it?"

"Stole it. Always easy to break into a high tech security lab."

Humphrey placed it in his ear.

"Eric!" Jerry shouted.

Eric came from nowhere. "Yes, sir?"

"Give Humphrey his final piece of equipment."

Eric walked off. Humphrey stared after him for a few seconds before turning back to Jerry.

"Wait, where is going?"

"You're not one of us without these," Jerry said smiling.

Eric returned and tossed something on the ground in front of Humphrey. It was a black leg band.

* * *

><p>Humphrey walked amongst many other wolves toward a train track.<p>

"The train coming by here should be going to Montana," Eric said. "Okay, when it goes by, I want everybody on!"

The wolves all murmured.

"Hey, brother."

Jason had appeared to Humphrey's right.

"Jason."

"Man, Eric's so full of himself!" Jason said, staring over at Eric with a look of disgust. "I've always hated him. Thinks just because he's Jerry's advisor he can do whatever the hell he wants. He's driven me up the wall many times before, but I don't want to say anything to Jerry, or he'll kick me out…not that there's really anything wrong with that, in my opinion."

Humphrey looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing," said Jason.

"No, what'd you say?"

"Nothing, man. Just forget it."

Jason walked off. Humphrey watched him leave.

"Alright, prepare yourselves!" Eric shouted. A train's whistle blew in the distance. A train was growing larger on the tracks.

Humphrey noticed the wolves around him getting into prancing positions. He got into one himself, but with a little too much hesitation.

"On my mark!" Eric called.

The train reached their position and roaring winds suddenly devastated everyone's ears.

"Black Assassins, jump!"

Humphrey, in the midst of the others, took one giant leap and all landed inside a compartment. It was crammed, with everyone in there.

Humphrey groaned and pushed his way to the surface past at least three wolves. He wondered if he would be traveling like that all the time.

* * *

><p>What was probably three hours later, Humphrey and the Black Assassins stood in front of a large building in Montana. It was about three stories high with windows scattered everywhere. A large sign on the front of the building read SHARENKOWL WAREHOUSE in white letters.<p>

"Everyone inside! Grab everything nuclear or nuclear-related. Those are Jerry's orders!"

The wolves all busted through windows.

"Humphrey," came Jerry's voice in Humphrey's ear. "I've got something different for you. I want you to locate Frederick and make sure he's out of the picture."

"Why? What's his threat?" Humphrey asked.

"He's one of those techno guys. He knows what we're up to and is planning on stopping us. I want to see your skill in the field. Take him out, and regroup with the rest of the team."

Humphrey branched off from the rest of the squad, which were tipping over table and smashing things left and right.

There was a door that was locked. Humphrey busted it open by using his weight.

The room beyond was empty, but the passage continued.

"Oh, and Humphrey?" Jerry said. "I forgot to mention something about the earpiece. We've modified it so you can pick up target transmission and nearby conversations. Useful when dealing with hunters."

Humphrey approached the next door. It was unlocked. Humphrey walked through into another empty room, this one, however, looked less empty. There were boxes containing all sorts of different equipment stacked up everywhere. The room looked like it had been vacated, but someone had still been roaming through it.

There was a small room beyond on the backside. Humphrey stepped inside. He noticed a level on the wall. He pushed it down with his nose.

He began moving downward. It was a lift.

As the lift neared the bottom, Humphrey began hearing worried voices.

"Damn it, they're here! I told you they'd be here!"

"Relax, sir, they won't get past me."

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Ronald. The Black Assassins are tough ones, and they've got a new one. Jerry's been saying good things about him, so he's probably gonna kill me!"

The lift hit the bottom and Humphrey stepped out. A single door separated him from the two speaking wolves.

"Sir, I really don't see why there's any need to get upset."

"Because you're not the target!" the first wolf shouted in an angry voice. "Jerry wants me dead, I know it!"

Humphrey concluded that he was Frederick.

"Calm down, everything will be alright."

"No, it won't! Don't give me that bullshit! Nowhere I go is safe!"

"Sir, calm down."

"I'm not paying you to say shit like that!" Frederick yelled.

"Sir, you're not paying me at all."

"Exactly."

Humphrey took a step closer to the door and a floor board beneath him creak.

"What was that?" Frederick said. "What was that? Did you hear that?"

"I did, sir."

"Well then what the hell are you still standing here for? Go check it out!"

The door was suddenly flown open and Humphrey was staring at a small wolf. His eyes grew wide, but Humphrey leaned forward and knocked him on the head. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"You!" You're a Black Assassin!" shouted Frederick, backing away. He was a large and slightly old wolf. "What did you do to Ronald? He was the only wolf I had left to protect me!"

"Humphrey," came Jerry's voice through the earpiece. "How is your work coming along?"

"I'm looking at Frederick now," replied Humphrey.

"Excellent," said Jerry. "Proceed with urgency. Team One is already wrapping up upstairs."

"Roger."

"You talking to that punk Jerry?" Frederick said. "Man, he tried to get me to join your little group, but I wouldn't give in. I didn't want to join because it was wrong. I wanted to do the right thing. That's me."

"Really?" said Humphrey. "You seem to swear an awful lot for a good guy."

"Shut up!" Frederick said "I'll say what I please! This is America, I'll damn say what I please, you hear me?"

Humphrey continued staring at him. He wasn't too sure about the job. He hadn't thought about the fact that joining the group would mean he might have to kill.

"Humphrey!" came Jason's voice through the earpiece. "Bro, we're leaving now! We've everything. Where are you?"

Frederick took this moment and sliced Humphrey right in the face before running. Humphrey followed him. He was old, and Humphrey tackled him with ease.

"Stop running!" Humphrey told him.

"No way! I'll do whatever I want, and you can't stop me!"

Humphrey looked at him. Frederick seemed to notice something in his eyes.

"What? Don't you like living the dream?"

"What dream?" Humphrey said.

"The dream of the Black Assassins!" Frederick cried. "A true Black Assassin dreams of his acceptance his whole life! I'm not seeing it in your eyes!"

"Shut up!" Humphrey said suddenly. "Be quiet!"

"Why? You afraid Jerry's gonna find out about you not being a true Black Assassin? You'll be killed, and I'll watch it and laugh. You'll be—!"

Humphrey lost it. He bit down on the old wolf's throat and killed him within three seconds.

"So much for you," he said, looking down at the body.

"Interesting," said Jerry. "Very good, Humphrey. You're doing very well. Regroup with the rest of the team and get back here ASAP."

"Whoa," came a voice behind Humphrey. Ronald had woken up and was listening to everything, including the fact that Humphrey was not a true Black Assassin. The wolf turned and ran. Humphrey ran after him, determined to stop him from doing the unthinkable.

The lift was already rising. Humphrey grabbed onto the bottom in enough time to pull himself in. He pinned the wolf down to the ground by his neck.

"Why are you running?" Humphrey snarled in his ear.

"Because you're a traitor! Just wait 'til your boss, Jerry or whatever, finds out about that!"

"He's not going to find out, because you're not going to tell him," Humphrey snarled.

"Yes I am! Get off me!"

"Why are you even here?" Humphrey asked him.

"The people who used to work here got run out by Frederick and his gang. But his gang's all dead, so he hired me to protect him from you."

"Interesting," said Humphrey. "Where do you come from?"

"California."

"Really? What were you doing up here?"

"Traveling," said Ronald. "He found me and told me about his little deal with the protection! I agreed because it was gave me something to do!"

"Interesting," said Humphrey, trying to buy time.

"I had a family," Ronald said, "but a pack of wolves came in and wiped them out."

"Oh," said Humphrey. "I see."

"But it won't matter, because I'm gonna get you!"

The lift came to a halt and Ronald pushed Humphrey off of him and took off running.

Humphrey started following him, but tripped over a box that read URANIUM RODS-"_From your friend, Dr. Lawrence Sandusky_."

Ronald looked back and laughed. "You're done for."

Humphrey looked over and noticed a wire in the nearby wall. Humphrey turned back to Ronald.

"Oh, hey Jerry."

Ronald turned and looked. Humphrey ran over and cut the wire on the wall. Electricity shot through it and several bolts hit Ronald all over the body. He screamed, and fell to the floor after a few seconds, dead.

"I don't know what's happening in there, Humphrey," Jerry said, "but you've done enough for today. Get out of there. The rest of your team is already on route to the trains."

Humphrey returned outside, where the last of the Black Assassins were running, some with equipment. Jason was among them. He looked back.

"Humphrey, come one, brother! Let's get back to the hideout!"

Humphrey caught up with him and they headed back to where the rest of the team was running.

* * *

><p>"Our next assignment," Jerry explained to a tired group in the hideout, "we shall be infiltrating a market in Bismarck. There is a vital piece of equipment situated there. Let's get some shut-eye. I don't want anyone tired for tomorrow."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Humphrey's first assignment was interesting. How will he handle his second? I'll be back with the answer to that soon.


	5. Bismarck Market

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 5-Bismarck Market **

The following morning brought Humphrey a lot of attention. Jerry gave Humphrey best remarks over his actions, which caused Carl to bite a stick into two out of anger. Jason also bragged about "being friends with the best in the group" all the time. Anytime Humphrey passed Jason, he would call him over.

During breakfast, Jason, who was explaining something to three other wolves, called Humphrey over.

"Okay, tell them," he said.

"Tell them what?" Humphrey asked.

"About Sharenkowl! About Frederick! Tell them, brother!"

Humphrey simply recounted what had happened, only leaving out the parts where Ronald almost revealed Humphrey's actual disloyalty to the group.

When he finished, he asked Jason if he could talk with him for a minute.

"What's up, bro?"

"Do you know of anything happening in California?" Humphrey asked.

"No, why?"

"Frederick's 'bodyguard' says he was from there, but something happened."

"Sorry, man," said Jason. "All I know about California is that Jerry wants to place the actual equipment in San Francisco. He feels that's the best place to do it."

"What about the rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"That there's something evil going on down there?"

"I don't know," said Jason. "Maybe he was crazy, this wolf of Frederick's. You never know."

"Yeah, I suppose," said Humphrey. He thought for a moment. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Sure, what?"

"Are you satisfied being here?"

"Why would ask me that?" Jason asked nervously.

"Because you seem like you don't want this plan to work. All the other wolves think so, too."

"That's…so _weird_," said Jason, still very nervous. There was something fake in his voice.

Jason walked away, leaving Humphrey with several unanswered questions.

* * *

><p>It took a few hours to get to Bismarck, as Jerry had predicted. When they crossed into North Dakota, Jerry made the final briefings.<p>

"Stealth," he said. "That's the key to this operation. If we lose our heads or our cover, we're done. This is a very busy market, and people travel through here all the time. We can't make our presence known, or we're screwed."

Humphrey rode quietly. He still hadn't thought about how he would stop the whole thing, probably because he didn't even know what the plan was. He just hoped he could put a halt to it without getting killed.

They arrived at their exfiltration point before too much longer. After a painful jump out of the truck, Humphrey followed the group to the market nearby.

Jerry's voice carried back to him.

"Oh, crap! Looks like it's packed more than I expected. We'll have to move cautiously."

Humphrey hurried up to Jerry.

"Uh, Jerry? What's going on?"

"You needn't worry," Jerry responded. "We don't show mercy." He turned to the rest of the group. "I want everyone in there now! We need a 55-volt generator for this operation! Search every square inch of this market! We're not leaving until we get what we need."

Wolves stalked in all directions. Jerry turned back to Humphrey.

"I'm counting on you, Humphrey. Don't let me down."

Humphrey watched him go, and went his own direction. The market looked average. It was a fruit market, by the looks of it. Everywhere he looked, he saw people walking and talking with their friends, laughing and eating something.

One salesman looked over at Humphrey.

"What the—?"

Humphrey moved into some shadows. The salesman walked over. After a few moments he shrugged, but walked back over looking suspicious. Humphrey looked past him and saw a maintenance building beyond.

"Jason, you there?"

"Humphrey, what'd you need?" Jason said through the earpiece.

"Where are you?"

"Some stand near the market's fuse box and security center."

"You think you could do me a favor?" Humphrey asked.

"What?"

"Could you break in and disable the power for the south side of the market?"

"I'll try. Gimme a minute."

Humphrey waited for a few minutes, and then Jason's voice buzzed back through his ear.

"Alright, in about five seconds, you should be home free."

Shortly after, the lights went out in the market. There was suddenly panicking going on. There were shouts and yells going on everywhere.

Jason suddenly spoke again.

"Wait, I think I might've overloaded it. Oh, crap!"

An explosion filled the sky and people began fleeing everywhere. Humphrey tried to concentrate but found the explosive sounds overwhelming…too overwhelming.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Dad! Just one more?"<p>

It was a lonely night in Jasper Park. Humphrey was asking his dad for a race.

"Son, it's late. Maybe tomorrow."

"But I can't wait until tomorrow!"

"Yes you can. C'mon, let's go see what your mother's doing."

Humphrey followed his father with a spring in his step. He was always the energetic type. He wanted to be out, running around, having fun. Sleeping was the last thing on his mind, especially that night.

They walked into the den and found Humphrey's mother lying there. She looked up at them.

"Where have you two been?"

"Out," said Humphrey's father.

"Oh," she said. "Was he making you run again?"

"Yes," he said, smiling down at Humphrey. "Yes he was."

"Darling, come here," said Humphrey's mother. Humphrey walked over and laid down next to her.

"Yes, Mom?"

"Did I ever tell you the story about the lone wolf who found his way into true love?"

Humphrey shook his head. His father knew where the story was going. It was to make Humphrey tired and sleep for at least a couple hours.

"I haven't? Would you like to hear it?"

"Yeah, tell me!"

Humphrey's father smiled and walked to the entrance of the den, looking at the moon in the sky.

"Well, there was once a wolf named…" She thought for a moment "…Humphrey." Humphrey smiled. "Now, Humphrey was a wolf who, like you, wanted to see the world. He wanted to travel around the world, visit many amazing places, make many new friends."

"That's what I wanna do!" Humphrey said.

"I know, I know," said his mother, shushing him. "Now Humphrey was wanted to leave as soon as possible so he could see the whole world in time. He was just about to leave when a very pretty wolf walked by."

Humphrey's expression did not change.

"And he said hello to her," Humphrey's mother continued, "and she said hi back. And then, they became friends. They would go everywhere together. Down by the river, in the forest, everywhere. Then, one day, he wanted to tell her he loved her, and didn't want to leave."

Now Humphrey looked a little confused.

"He couldn't think of how to say it, though," his mother said. "He tried giving her flowers, but she was allergic."

Humphrey laughed.

"Then he tried taking her a walk, but he just got stung by a bee."

Humphrey laughed even harder. His father rolled his eyes and smiled at the entrance.

"And then," his mother said, "he decided he wasn't going to be afraid. So he went up to her and said he loved her. And guess what, she love him, too! And they spent every day together for the rest of their lives, and didn't ever leave each other, because everything they wanted was right there at home."

'_Great story, hon_,' Humphrey's father thought to himself.

Humphrey's eyelids were growing heavy. He was drifting to sleep. He tried fighting it, but he was no match. Right as he laid his head down, a huge explosion sounded in the forest.

Humphrey's eyes snapped open. He got up.

"What happened?" Humphrey's mother asked. "What happened? What is it?"

"I don't know," said Humphrey's father. "Stay here. I'm going to find out."

He ran out.

"Daddy!" Humphrey cried. "Daddy, wait up!"

Humphrey ran after him.

"No, Humphrey! Come back here!" his mother shouted after him , but he ignored her.

He saw his father running the distance. Humphrey noticed his father was running faster than he did when he raced with Humphrey. It didn't make any sense. Shouldn't Humphrey be gaining on him?

Finally, Humphrey's dad disappeared from view ahead of him. Humphrey came to a dead halt.

"Dad?" he said.

He looked around. The forest greeted him in a dark way. There were twigs and branches everywhere. He had never been inside the forest before. He hadn't even gone that far away from his parents' den without them beside him, and even then they didn't take him near the forest.

"Dad?" he called again. No answer.

Another explosion sounded nearby, nearly deafening Humphrey's tiny eardrums. Also, the sky was illuminated by an orange light. Humphrey walked toward it. He looked and saw his father's friend Joe on the ground, grabbing his leg and cursing.

Humphrey walked over to Joe, who looked up at him.

"Humphrey, get out of here! It's too dangerous!"

"Where's my dad?" Humphrey asked.

"I don't know, he went to go find help. Just please go! I can't stand to see you get hurt!"

Humphrey turned and walked away. He wanted to find his father, but it was really hard at that time of night. Even in the moonlight, visibility was nearly blackened.

"Humphrey, get down!"

Humphrey turned and saw his father running toward him. He pushed Humphrey to the ground and said, "Stay here!"

"What's going on, Dad?" Humphrey asked.

"Someone has placed three bombs in the area. They're timed to go off. Two already have, and the police arrested the man who did it, but the third bomb is still set. I think it could go off at any minute. Stay here! I need to go help Joe!"

A loud explosion burst from the ground in front of them. Humphrey's father was blasted off his feet, but he got up. They turned and looked. The explosion had happened right where Joe had been lying. Humphrey's father closed his eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry, Joe."

He walked over to Humphrey, who was really scared.

"Are you okay, Humphrey?"

But Humphrey didn't answer. He was shaking all over his body.

"Son, can you hear me?"

Humphrey still didn't answer. What had just happened would scar him for many years to come, if not his whole life.

"Son," his father's voice said, though it sounded far away to him. "Are you okay, Humphrey? Humphrey, are you okay?"

* * *

><p>"Humphrey, are you alright?" Jason shouted.<p>

Humphrey shook his head and saw the burning remains of the south part of the market in flames.

"Yeah, Jason, I'm fine."

"There you are! You haven't been answering me for the last few minutes. I thought you were dead, man!"

"Yeah, well, it takes more than that to kill me," Humphrey said.

"Humphrey, Jason. What the hell's going on?" Jerry's angry voice said.

"We're fine," said Humphrey. "We had a little issue with the fuse box."

"Fuse box?" Jerry said. "I said stealth is the key! When we have stealth, we don't need to worry about that! I'm disappointed in you, Humphrey. I expected more from you on this!"

"I'm sorry, sir."

Jerry sighed. "Well," he said calmly, "your little dilemma may have cost us the element of secrecy, but we still have a clean shot at that generator. I want you to get it as soon as possible."

"Roger that," said Humphrey.

"Yeah, understood," said Jason.

"And Humphrey," said Jerry. "Try not to be so loud this time."

Humphrey walked through the now nearly deserted market. The explosion had taken out most of the perimeter of the security center. Humphrey wondered how big the fuse box was. It had to have decent size to cause a detonation of that size.

"That's what I just said, dumbass!" shouted an angry voice from a nearby building. Humphrey peeked inside. A man was on his phone, talking to one of his underpaid workers, probably. "Yeah, get the frickin' police out here, we just had an explosion with the fuse box…I don't know who did it. What am I, a damn rocket scientist?...Well, tell them to get their asses down here pronto!...Do I sound like a care?...Just tell them to get down here now! I don't care what they have to say about it, I just want that frickin' fuse box fixed!" He hung up and threw his phone onto the table.

Humphrey looked over and saw a large red generator sitting on the ground in the corner. He pushed the window open and tried to sneak in, but slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Holy—!" the man cried. Humphrey looked up, but heard a giant tink sound. He blacked out, and woke up with a chain around one of his legs.

"So it was you that did it, huh?" the man said, staring down at him.

Humphrey looked around. The window he had climbed through was shut and locked.

The man pressed something to Humphrey's chest. Electricity shot through his body, burning his insides.

"My denial to the army forces me to use it on creatures like you instead," he said, turning it higher.

Humphrey began groaning. He had never experienced anything like this before.

"Don't like it, huh?" the man said, chortling. "Should've thought of that before you came here, now shouldn't have you?"

Humphrey looked down at the ground. He was faced with another jolt of pain, this one the worst yet.

"Too much? Too bad!"

More.

"Let's see how you handle it at its maximum," the man said. He pressed it to Humphrey's chest. It felt like bullets ripping into his guts all over every second. Humphrey was yelling, he couldn't take it much longer. Suddenly, there was a loud crash. The main turned around but something grabbed him by the neck, bit him, and pressed hard on the wound. Like the bear, the man fell to the ground, his weapon falling to the ground with a clank beside him.

Jason was standing there, panting.

"I'm glad you showed me how to do that," he said.

Jason walked around and bit the chain off of Humphrey's ankle.

"Thanks, Jason," said Humphrey.

"Don't mention it, Humphrey," said Jason. "That's what brothers do for each other."

Humphrey was glad that Jason thought of him as a brother. Even after what had happened, he had come back for him.

"Listen, Humphrey," said Jason. "When you went out of contact, Jerry nearly lost his mind. He said it wasn't worth it. Everyone else is already on their way back to the hideout."

"They left us?" Humphrey asked.

"Well, yeah," said Jason. "That's pretty much what you do in this organization. When the plug is pulled, it's every wolf for himself."

Humphrey felt his ear. The man hadn't removed his earpiece.

"Can I call him?"

"Probably not. I think you'll need to get back to explain everything in person."

"How long will it take to get back?" Humphrey asked.

"A few days, minimum," said Jason. "We'd better get moving."

"What about the generator?"

"It's too heavy for the two of us to carry. We need at least half the group. Just leave it. We need to concentrate on getting back."

The two wolves helped each other back through the window and out of the market. As they began their long journey back to the hideout, Humphrey kept thinking about how Jason had stayed behind to help him. He was grateful, and also even more curious about where Jason's true loyalty was.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I hope this chapter was interesting. I kind of just winged it as I went. So, what's your opinion of Jason now? R&R.


	6. A Long Journey With A Complication

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 6-A Long Journey With A Complication**

Humphrey and Jason walked. They'd been walking for several miles. It had been a few hours since they left the market, and Humphrey wasn't even sure they were out of North Dakota yet. Jason kept saying he knew where he was going, but Humphrey was beginning to doubt him. He just chose not to say this because he was still grateful for Jason staying behind to save him.

Jason didn't seem to mind. He was the type who stuck his neck out for others, which only made Humphrey, once again, feel that there was something else going on in his head. What was Jason thinking? Why was he always acting so suspicious? With his personality, he seemed like a good wolf. Humphrey kept wondering. Jason looked back at him and saw his curious face.

"What?"

"What _what_?" Humphrey asked.

"Why were you making that face?"

"What face?"

"That there's-something-odd-about-you face. _That_ face."

"Oh, I'm just wondering."

Jason continued looking at him. He turned and continued walking, Humphrey right behind him.

The sounds of the explosion were also still ringing in Humphrey's ears. He had never forgotten that night in his childhood with his father. The explosions had only brought back the pain. The sorrow, the sadness…it had all flooded back into his body when that fuse box had gone off.

"Jason, where are we going?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean? Back to the hideout, of course!"

"Jason, can I ask you something? Like, something personal?"

Jason stopped and turned around. "Okay, what is it?"

"Do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"Like being a Black Assassin?"

Jason looked a little offended. "What—of course I do! Why would you ask me something like that?"

"You just seem a little…held back," said Humphrey. "It seems like you don't want to do any of the plan."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Jason at once. "Can we just keep moving, please?"

Humphrey sighed. "Sure," he said, and they kept walking.

Humphrey wasn't going to let it drop, though. And Jason knew that. Whenever Humphrey felt like saying something, Jason would loudly clear his throat and increase his speed slightly.

It had begun to rain. Water drops of great size pounded to the ground. Depression began slowly eating its way at Humphrey when this happened. He thought of Kate, how he hadn't seen her in a long time, and how much he missed her, how much she missed him. He looked up at the cloud directly above him. It looked somewhat shaped like Kate. It also happened to be releasing the most rain, like tears. Humphrey felt the emotions rising in his chest as he pressed on.

After another half hour of walking, they finally reached the border into Montana.

"Well, once we reach the Sharenkowl warehouse, we know we're getting closer!" Jason encouraged.

Humphrey groaned. He had paid attention to the distance on the way to Bismarck and had a feeling that Montana was a large state width-wide.

It had stopped raining for a moment. Humphrey didn't care. He couldn't feel any different wet or dry at the moment. He was worried about his reputation, his popularity in which he had gained yet lost within a few days. He had no idea how much longer he would be with the Black Assassins. That was yet another thing he had not thought through. One slip up, or possibly even a request to leave, could get him in serious trouble. He didn't want that. He needed to think of something soon.

A roll of thunder greeted him and Jason as they began their long walk into Montana. The rain began to pour down again.

"Whoa!" Jason steadied himself after almost slipping down a large and steep hill. IT was more like a cliff.

"What's the matter?" Humphrey asked.

"This hill!" Jason said. "It looks really steep. Watch your step, okay, brother?"

Humphrey took a look down. The 50-foot drop may as well have been several miles. The ground looked as if it were growing smaller with each second Humphrey stared at it.

A rock slipped from beneath Humphrey's paw ad fell to the ground fifty feet below.

"You okay, Humphrey?" Jason called back.

"Yeah," said Humphrey. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay, good, 'cause this rock's really unpredictable," Jason said, unhinging one of them on the edge. "Who knows when it will—"

The rock suddenly crumbled and Jason instantly fell over the edge and disappeared from sight.

"Jason!" Humphrey yelled, running over to the edge.

Jason was a few feet below, grabbing onto a twig hanging out from the side.

"Jason, are you okay?"

"Other than hanging on to avoid meeting the Grim Reaper, then yeah!" Jason shouted up.

Humphrey turned and looked around. There were no giant logs nearby. It was a shame. Why weren't there any giant branches?

"Humphrey…" Jason's voice came over the edge.

"Jason, I can't find anything!" Humphrey shouted.

"Well look harder!"

Humphrey ran over to a nearby tree. '_Damn it_! _Where's something big_?'

There was a giant snap over the edge. Humphrey heard Jason yell. He ran back over.

"Jason! What happened?"

"This twig's not gonna last much longer!"

"I'll find something!"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it if you actually did that!"

Humphrey still wasn't sure what to do.

"What, I have an idea!" he suddenly shouted.

He remembered something: Kate's voice panicking as she slipped further and further into a dark ravine with a river at the bottom. He had used a vine to save her, the two of them had swung over to the opposite side to safety. There was a problem with the cliff: there was no opposite side.

"Okay, I've got it. Hold on!" Humphrey told Jason.

He spotted a vine hanging from a tree branch nearby. He grabbed it and swung over the cliff.

"Humphrey, what are you doing?"

"Just trust me!" Humphrey said. "Now, grab my tail."

Jason looked completely confused. "Huh?"

"Just grab it!"

Jason did so. Humphrey forgot how much it hurt.

"Man, that hurts!"

Jason let go of the branch and they swung away from the rock. But where would they go next? The vine loosened and breaks began to appear above near the branch.

"Now what, Humphrey?" Jason said, still clinging to his tail.

"I don't know," said Humphrey. He wasn't sure how they would get out of this one.

The vine snapped and broke some more. They moved a few inches downward.

"Uh, Humphrey?"

"I know."

Humphrey then realized that the only way out was to do the near-impossible.

"Start swinging!" he called down to Jason.

"What?"

"Start swinging!"

"Why?"

"Trust me, just do it!"

Jason started moving back and forth, away from the cliff, towards it. They began moving farther and closer to the edge every single time. Finally, Jason got enough force where his paws were almost touching the cliff when he swung towards it.

When the power of the swing was getting close to perfect, Humphrey called down, "When we get close enough, jump for the ledge!"

Jason waited until they began moving toward the cliff. He let go of Humphrey's tail and leapt for the edge. He managed to grab it with his teeth and paws. He struggled and pulled himself up. Humphrey was still swinging, although the power of the swing was less with the absence of Jason. He helped the swing as much as he could and when he got close to the cliff, he jumped. Jason reached out and grabbed Humphrey by the paws. He pulled him over the edge to safety.

"Thanks," said Humphrey.

"Don't mention it," Jason said.

Jason looked worried. He suddenly wore a guilty expression on his face, like there was something he wanted to speak up about.

"Listen, can we find a cave or something to take shelter from the rain in?" he said. "I think we need to find a place to hit the hay. Besides, I need to tell you something."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I've got one thing to say about the next chapter: the truth will be revealed.


	7. A Friend's Revelation

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 7-A Friend's Revelation**

Humphrey and Jason had found a small overhang nearby. It looked like something had a large part of the rock out of it, a bomber or construction worker, no doubt.

"Sit down," said Jason.

"Hmm?"

"Sit down," he repeated. "I have to tell you something."

Humphrey sat down, watching Jason curiously.

"This whole time, you were right."

"Right? Right about what?" said Humphrey, though he had a feeling what it was.

"About if I like being with the Black Assassins," said Jason. "You're right, I'm not."

"So, you wish you could stop Jerry, then?" Humphrey asked.

Jason nodded. "I wish. You've seen him. I've never had enough gut to act against him. I just want to leave, never work for him again. He's nothing but a black mark of guilt in my history."

"I hear you," said Humphrey. "I wish I could do the same."

Jason looked confused. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, that's why I joined," said Humphrey. "I had a feeling Jerry couldn't be up to anything good, so I figured the best way to get close was to get into the action myself."

"That was really why you wanted to join so bad?" Jason asked.

"Indeed."

Jason looked shocked at first, but then a smile formed on his face. "Brother, I've never planned on actually rebelling against Jerry, but with you standing by my side, I don't see how we could fail!"

Humphrey nodded his head in a brag-like "Yeah-well…" kind of way.

Jason looked at Humphrey. "So, what happened with you? Like, how'd did you get where you were that day? You said you were from Jasper Park."

Humphrey sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"C'mon, brother!"

Humphrey hesitated. "Okay, well, there was a small issue in the Park. It was about six months ago. Probably the day from hell, in my opinion. Kate, my mate, was depressed, everything was going out of control, I had to leave for a while, but I plan on going back and setting things right."

"When's that?"

Humphrey thought about it. "Soon."

Jason nodded. "Man, that's something."

"What about you?" Humphrey asked.

Jason looked at Humphrey for a few seconds.

"I told you, bro, I don't remember it that well."

"Can't you remember something?"

Jason thought. "No, not really."

"Nothing at all?" Humphrey said. "Nothing at _all_?"

Jason thought some more. "No, I—" Then, he squinted, and placed his paws on his head. "Wait, something's coming to me."

"What is it?" Humphrey said. "Parents? Girlfriend? Hunter?"

At the word "hunter", Jason's eyes grew wide. "That day," he said silently. He then turned to Humphrey and said, "You really want to hear about it?"

Humphrey nodded. Jason sighed.

"Okay, here goes."

* * *

><p>In a small nature park outside of Edmonton, three wolves sat in their den. The father, black and gray in places, sat at the entrance, looking out into the summer sky. The mother, silver and brown, laid inside sleeping. The child wandered over to his father.<p>

"Dad!" Jason cried. "Dad, guess what?"

"What?" his father said, a grin on his face.

"I can stand on one of my hind legs for five seconds!"

"That's great, son," said his father. "I'm sure the girls will all e chasing you."

"Cool," Jason said, running back into the den. His excited footsteps woke up his mother.

"Jason, calm down a little bit. I'm trying to sleep."

"Sorry, Mom."

"It's alright, darling," she said, smiling at him. "Just try to be a little quieter next time."

"Okay, Mommy."

His mother placed her head down.

"Mommy?"

She opened her eyes. "Yes, Jason?"

"How come Freddie's daddy died?"

She looked shocked at his question. At the den entrance, his father looked suddenly concerned.

"Why—why would you ask that?" his mother asked silently.

"He's been telling me the same thing. He wants to know," Jason said. "Do you know why, Mommy?"

His mother got up and walked over to his father at the entrance.

"Should I tell him?" she whispered to him.

"No," he said. "Not yet. If he finds out a hunter killed Freddie's father, it might scar him."

She walked back over to Jason. "Sorry, honey. We don't know why."

A loud gunshot rang outside the den. The three of them jumped up. "Stay here," Jason's father said, running out of the den.

"Daddy!" Jason called, running after him but stopping at the entrance. "Daddy, wait!"

Jason's father looked around. "Son, stay there. I'll find out what's going on."

Another loud bang echoed through the clearing, and Jason's father suddenly fell to the ground and was not moving.

"No!" Jason's mother said, running out to him. She then stopped, realizing her mistake. Turning around, she looked over at Jason and said, "I love you, Jason."

"I love you, too, Mommy," said Jason, not knowing what was going to happen.

Another shot, and his mother fell too. Jason could not even hear his own voice. He may have been young, but he knew what happened and didn't like it.

A man in black stepped out from a bush and walked over to the dead wolves. He placed them in crates. As he got up to leave, he looked over at Jason, and then turned and walked off. Jason stared after him, replaying the scene he had just encountered over and over in his mind.

* * *

><p>Jason finished telling the story. Humphrey looked at him, sorry for his loss. Jason, though trying to maintain, was struggling to keep himself under control. His eyes were getting wetter every second.<p>

"Mommy…" he echoed softly.

Humphrey stared at him, letting him calm himself down. Finally, he sniffled and cleared his throat.

"It's been so many years, I don't feel sad about it as much anymore," he said.

Humphrey understood.

"So, do you have any life story like that?" Jason asked Humphrey.

"Actually, I do," said Humphrey. He launched into the story of the night with the explosions. He finished with, "And that's why I wasn't responding right away."

"So it sounds like we both come from devastating childhoods," Jason said. "Something that has scarred us for life. Something we wish we could just move on completely from, but can't no matter how hard we try."

"Yes," said Humphrey. Then, looking forward, he said, "So, what do we do from here?"

"We go back," said Jason, "and we explain to Jerry what happened, and we see how we can figure out what his big plan is."

"Sounds like a plan," said Humphrey.

They walked over to opposite sides of the hangover and slept. Humphrey, a little re-shaken by his childhood memories, was determined to put a stop to whatever Jerry was doing. No matter how rough things got, he wasn't going to let his guard down or give up. He was going to win.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> So, Jason's got a life story of his own. I hope this chapter wasn't too awkward or anything. R&R.


	8. They're Back

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 8-They're Back **

Humphrey and Jason traveled for another week. It was miserable. Nothing but walking, eating, and sleeping for 168 hours. Humphrey and Jason were getting along even better than they were before now that they knew they were both trying to overthrow Jerry, a task that, no doubt, would be difficult. Not to mention Jerry had Carl and Eric as his top bodyguards. Carl was crude, intimidating, vicious. And Eric, he was just plain weird, but that's what him dangerous.

After a week, Humphrey and Jason found themselves outside the hideout just outside of Jasper Park.

"Here we go," said Jason, braving his entrance. Humphrey did the same. They were greeted almost immediately by a cold-faced Carl.

"Well, it's about time you two showed up."

"Nice to see you too, Carl," said Jason.

Carl shot him a look of irritation. "Don't get smart with me, Jason. Anyway, Jerry wants to speak with the two of you."

"This should be good," whispered Jason, as he and Humphrey walked through the tunnel that lead to Jerry's room.

They entered, and Jerry, who had been sitting and thinking about something, looked up.

"Ah, they have returned," he said. "Sit down, you two. We need to discuss something important about the plan."

Humphrey and Jerry sat down, now getting slightly worried.

"Well, first of all," Jerry began, "what happened in Bismarck? I thought I made it clear stealth was the key."

"Just helping a brother," said Jason. "He asked me for some assistance, and it was that in which I provided."

"I see," said Jerry, turning to Humphrey. "And what was this _assistance_ you required?"

"There was too much security," Humphrey stated simply. "I asked for a little help. Jason happened to be near the fuse box, so I figured a little darkness would help."

"I don't call an explosion helpful," said Jerry.

"That was an accident," said Humphrey. "Had that not happened, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if it had gone as planned, the lights would've gone out, but nothing else would have happened. We would've succeeding in stealing the generator."

"Perhaps," said Jerry. He turned back to Jason. "And why is it that you didn't return with the rest of us?"

Jason looked at Humphrey, then looked back and said, "You don't ever leave a brother behind."

"Ah, rescue mission, eh?" Jerry said. "Alright, you two, don't let something like this happen again, alright?"

"Yes, sir," Humphrey and Jason said simultaneously.

Jason left. Humphrey made to follow him, but Jerry spoke again.

"Hold on, Humphrey. I need to talk to you about something."

"Yes, sir?" Humphrey said, turning back to face him.

"What's your opinion on friendly-cleansing?"

Humphrey was confused. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Friendly-cleansing," Jerry repeated. "There are rumors that Jason may be a traitor. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"No," said Humphrey immediately. He wouldn't sell Jason out.

"Hmm," said Jerry. "Well, keep your ears open. I'd hate to see him go, but if the _unfortunate_ revelation of him being a traitor presents itself, I'll have no choice by to act accordingly."

Humphrey nodded and left, though he could tell Jerry was watching him suspiciously as he left.

Humphrey returned to the main clearing. It was nearly empty. Everyone was probably outside eating lunch or joking hysterically.

Movement to his right made Humphrey glance over. Someone had just walked down a tunnel he hadn't been down before. Having nothing else to do for the time being, Humphrey followed whoever it was down to a room. It was Carl.

"Son of a bitch thinks he can take my job?" he muttered angrily to himself, snapping a branch in half. "Stupid Humphrey. Screws up, shows up a week later and is off the hook? What a lucky little bastard!"

Humphrey simply watched from the shadows.

Carl stopped, sensing something. Humphrey backed away slowly. Carl approached Humphrey's position and looked out. He sniffed.

"I knew it," he muttered. "Come on out, Humphrey. I know you're here."

Humphrey slid closer and closer. Carl looked at him, though he couldn't exactly see him due to the darkness. Out of panic, Humphrey quickly knocked Carl in the back of the head, knocking him out.

Humphrey took this as an opportunity to investigate Carl's room.

It was large, larger than everyone else's, even Jerry's. Why would the leader's chief have a bigger room than the leader himself? Humphrey looked around. It had a few small accessories in it. One was a small crate, no doubt full of Carl's personal belongings he owned when he joined the Black Assassins. Inside was a newspaper that showed Carl's face on the front page, beneath a headline that read: DERRANGED WOLF SPOTTED IN CHICAGO. WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE.

Humphrey continued searching. He found nothing, though. He decided to explore elsewhere. Further down the unfamiliar tunnel, he found another vacant room. Inside was nothing. Humphrey was beginning to get annoyed. He was still inside when he heard footsteps behind him. A quick dive into a dark corner hid him from the wolf who entered.

"That's weird," said Eric. "Hey, Jerry," he said into his earpiece. "I think someone's been in my room."

"Go and check up on Jason," said Jerry's voice.

Eric turned and left. Humphrey followed him and placed a paw around his throat. The darkness prevented Eric from identifying Humphrey.

"Why are you so suspicious of Jason?" Humphrey asked in a deep voice to keep his identity a secret.

"Who are you?" Eric choked.

"Answer my question," Humphrey said. "Why are you so suspicious of Jason?"

"He's been acting really weird lately," said Eric. "Jerry thinks he might be a traitor. He sent me to keep an eye on him."

"Found anything?" Humphrey asked.

"No, not yet, but Jason's really unpredictable, so anything could show up at any time," Eric said.

"Hmm," said Humphrey. "Interesting."

"Now, would you mind telling me who you are?" Eric asked.

"Sorry, that's classified," said Humphrey.

"Wait, are you Jason?" Eric said, his eyes growing suspicious and anxious.

"No," said Humphrey. "One more question: what's the plan?"

"I don't know!" said Eric.

"Are you lying to me, Eric?" Humphrey snarled.

"How do you know my name?"

"I can see everything, everybody, what they do twenty-four, seven," Humphrey dramatized, deciding it would be best and the least-suspicious to do so.

"Huh?"

"So, are you lying to me?"

"No!" said Eric. "Jerry hasn't told anybody the plan yet! He wants to keep it a secret until it's time to execute it! If you can worm it out of him, then whoop-dee-dee for you, but if you can't you're out of luck!"

Humphrey punched Eric hard in the back of the head. He decided to return to his and Jason's room before anybody else came and caught him.

Back in his room, Humphrey laid down, resting, thinking about how he could find out the plan before it was too late.


	9. Another Day, More Suspicions

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 9-Another Day, More Suspicions**

Humphrey awoke to the smell of something. It smelled like smoke. Getting up, he walked over and out into the main clearing to see what it was. Carl was standing there in front of a burning log. He glanced over at Humphrey and scowled at him.

"What happened?" Humphrey asked.

"None of your business," said Carl, "but if you must know, I'm burning my anger out."

"Why?"

"Like you'd understand, Mr. Favorite," Carl said. "I was just using it as a punching bag, apparently when I'm mad enough I can cause it to catch on fire."

"Well, have fun with your log," said Humphrey turning away, sensing it wasn't over. He was right.

"Hold on there, dirtface!" Carl said. "Look, everyone's saying Jason's a traitor. If we're right, and you happen to be the first person to see him, I want you to take care of him. I don't care how much of a friend he is to you, I don't give a damn! Do it, or you'll wake up with your intestines bleeding out."

Humphrey stared at Carl for a few seconds. "O-kay, then."

"I mean it, Humphrey!" Carl snapped. "If Jason's a traitor, we don't need him anymore!"

Humphrey turned and walked back to his room, ignoring Carl's shouts after him: "I mean it!"

Humphrey walked into his room, thinking. If everyone was suspicious of Jason, they might be getting suspicious of him, too. He was, after all, in the enemies' territory. You couldn't blame a hunter for shooting a wolf if the wolf was in the hunter's back yard.

"Humphrey?" Jason said, through the earpiece. He wasn't in the room.

"Yeah, Jason. What's up?"

"I think we may have a small problem."

"Problem?"

"_Small_ problem…hopefully," said Jason. "Come outside, I'll tell you there."

Humphrey walked outside, where Jason stood, waiting and looking worried.

"What's the _small_ problem, then?" Humphrey asked.

"I've made a mistake," Jason said.

"When?"

"In Bismarck," said Jason. "When I blew out the fuse box by accident, I tried to fix it, but I think I only made it worse. The security camera saw me, and it sent the footage to the security man, who sent it to the North Dakota State Security Center."

"Alright," said Humphrey.

"Yeah, well, they're sending it to every computer in the world! They're also making announcements of it through every radio and electronic device! That includes our earpieces, man!"

Humphrey finally began sensing what the problem was.

"So, Jerry and all the rest of the Black Assassins will hear it!" he said.

"Yeah!" said Jason. "And he'll think I was doing the whole thing intentionally, so my cover will be blown, and so will yours because it would be obvious due to the fact I stayed behind to help you."

"So just explain to Jerry that it wasn't intentional."

"I can't! I'll be slaughtered before I make it to him!" Jason said. "We need to kill that trace!"

"How?"

"There's a building nearby that receives all global transmissions," explained Jason. "We need to get there and stop the transmission from reaching this area!"

"Okay," said Humphrey.

* * *

><p>Jason and Humphrey walked over to the building in which Jason spoke of. When they got there, Jason looked panicked.<p>

"Oh, man!" he said. "We've only got about twenty minutes!"

"How'd you know?"

"I was taking my morning walk this morning, and I heard it on a radio in the distance. I've calculated the precise distance, and it should hit this area in about twenty minutes."

Humphrey was impressed with Jason's math skills.

"Okay, Humphrey. I want you to get inside there and stop that trace by taking out the main generator and the connectivity wire. Since there's only enough room in the vents for you, I'm going back to monitor how things are looking at the hideout and make sure no one there gets it early."

"Okay, good luck," said Humphrey.

Jason turned and ran back into the forest.

Humphrey approached the building. It was tall, and looked like it had been a fortress at one point.

There was a vent in the side on the building. Humphrey tore off the grate and walked inside. The vent was really narrow, so it was hard to move. Humphrey wondered how it would be possible from anything bigger to get through.

He began to pass rooms. One was a small room in which a man at a laptop was working. Another was an empty room. The third was a large room with three men inside. Humphrey popped off the grate and stalked inside.

One of the men approached another. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?"

"That," said the first man, pointing at something in the second man's hand. "That paper. What's it say?"

"Nothing important," said the second man, as Humphrey moved silently behind them. "Not that it would matter much to you, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you butt into everyone's conversations. Do everyone a favor and shut up for a few minutes, okay?"

Humphrey walked behind a small wall that was in the center of the room. Behind it was a set of glass doors. Humphrey approached them and they slid open automatically.

"Humphrey, what's the status?" Jason said through the earpiece.

"I'm going though one of the hallways now," said Humphrey.

"Okay, in light of this recent discovery of this problem, I investigated the building myself a little bit and know where both the generator and connectivity wire are."

"Okay, what's the news?"

"The generator is at the back of the building, and the wire should be in the vent right about it."

"Thanks," said Humphrey.

"No problem," said Jason. "Call me if anything goes wrong. Jason out."

Humphrey walked down the long hallway. There were rooms everywhere on either side. Some of them actually had someone inside. Humphrey found it a miracle no one saw him.

At the end of the hall was another small wall in the center of the room. Humphrey walked around it and found a locked door. A label on the door read GENERATOR ROOM.

There door itself was unlocked, but there was a padlock on the door. Humphrey shrugged and bit it off. The door slid open and Humphrey walked inside. A loud clanking and running sound was filling the room. Humphrey walked over to the large green generator. He didn't know how to turn it off, so he walked behind it and saw a pipe jutting from the back that was connected to the wall. It was the fuel line, giving the fuel through the pipe. Humphrey bit the pipe in two and gasoline poured onto the floor. The room filled with the smell of gasoline. Also the lights went out.

"Damn it!" a voice from the hallway called. "What happened? Why are the lights out? Someone get in the generator room and see what the hell's going on here!"

Humphrey looked around and saw a vent in the ceiling. He jumped on top of the generator and leaped up. He grabbed the great and managed to yank it off in midair. Another pair of jumps onto and from the generator got Humphrey inside. He'd just managed to pull himself up when a man entered the room.

"What the—?" he said, looking at the gasoline emerging from the generator's base and the vent grate on the floor.

Humphrey watched him, and then looked up. He looked down both sides of the vent, and saw on side had a small control box with a wire sticking out. Humphrey crossed over the hole and snapped the wire in half with his teeth. He carefully stepped back over the hole and began moving through the vent. This one was darker and less comfortable, not that the first was any more comfortable.

"Jason," said Humphrey. "You there?"

"Humphrey, what's the word?"

"I've taken care of the generator and connectivity wire."

"Good," said Jason. "That'll keep them sending anything out for a while, at least until we stop Jerry's plan. And with ten minutes to spare. You're got skill, man!"

"It was nothing much," said Humphrey. What he had just done really wasn't that hard.

"Great, well I'll see you when you get back here," said Jason.

Humphrey continued following the vent until he passed the opening he had gone through earlier. Two more vents out of the way, and he was back outside. He ran from the building, worried someone might see him, but no one did. No one did.

* * *

><p>Things remained calm until right before Humphrey entered the hideout.<p>

"Humphrey!" Jerry called through the earpiece. "Where are you?"

"Just outside the hideout," said Humphrey. "Why?"

"Oh, good," said Jerry. "I thought you'd left for a minute. Listen, meet me in my room. I need to discuss something important with you."

Humphrey walked into the hideout, and was greeted by Carl.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you and Jason disappear for a while there?"

"Perhaps we were here and you just didn't see us," said Humphrey.

Carl gave Humphrey a suspicious look. "Alright, you win for now, but I'm not letting this go." He turned and walked off. Humphrey walked to Jerry's room.

"Humphrey, sit down."

Humphrey did so.

"I've got a little assignment for you," said Jerry.

"Oh really?" said Humphrey. "What is it?"

"I've got a little something I need from Albuquerque," Jerry explained. "I'm planning on retrieving it alone, as it is not that big of a deal, plus Carl seems to be getting paranoid."

Humphrey scoffed.

"So, I was thinking," Jerry said, "how would you like to come with me?"

"What?" said Humphrey, slightly taken aback.

"You heard."

"But I thought you were going by yourself?"

"That was my initial intention, but I realized I could always use a good backup, so I'm giving you this chance."

"That sounds interesting, sir," said Humphrey.

"Good," said Jerry. "Now run along. Remember, we leave tomorrow morning for Albuquerque."

As Humphrey got up and walked out of the room, Jerry added, "Just don't make this another Bismarck."

* * *

><p>Humphrey slept that night pondering the assignment in Albuquerque. He felt no need to be nervous, but Jerry's voice kept echoing inside his head.<p>

"_Just don't make this another Bismarck_."

* * *

><p>Humphrey woke up the next morning and walked into the main clearing.<p>

"They you are, Humphrey!" Jerry said. No one else seemed to be up and about yet. "Okay, now I'm going to be removing an important control panel from the Albuquerque International Museum. I need you to cover me at all times in case anything goes wrong."

"Roger that," said Humphrey.

"It's going to be a few days," said Jerry. "So let's hit it."

Humphrey and Jerry walked out of the hideout and over to a nearby road, where they awaited their ride to New Mexico.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Close call, huh? Albuquerque should be a thrill to write. What do you think of the story so far now? Getting kind of tense isn't it? R&R.


	10. Albuquerque Museum

**AN:** Okay, for those of you who don't know, I've got a poll set up on my homepage. Please vote. Anyway, this is a long chapter, almost as long as chapter five the Bismarck chapter. Just so you know.

* * *

><p>FRIEND OR FOE?<p>

**Chapter 10-Albuquerque Museum**

Humphrey and Jerry arrived in Albuquerque three days later. Humphrey was sweating. He had never felt that hot before in his life. It was summertime, which meant the temperature was mildly warm in Jasper Park, causing the temperatures in New Mexico to be almost unbearable.

Humphrey and Jerry stood outside of the city along a wide road.

"So, how have you been fairing?"Jerry asked, as they began walking.

"What do you mean, sir?" Humphrey asked.

"Well, no doubt you still have what happened in Bismarck in your mind," said Jerry. "I'm glad to see you put that in the back of your mind while on duty. That's what a good agent does."

"Gee, thanks sir," said Humphrey.

"Alright, now another short briefing before we go in," said Jerry. "I'm going to be slipping into the target area. I want no interruptions whilst I am inside. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Most definitely," replied Humphrey.

They walked on for a few miles. The streets were filled, yet Humphrey and Jerry stayed in the shadows. Humphrey didn't complain about the light because he didn't want to risk another blowout like Bismarck.

After a half hour, they reached the museum, standing tall and proud. It was one of those middle museums; not too old, not too young. The paint was peeling off in places, but it still showed no signs of rotting anywhere.

Jerry signaled to follow him around to the back of the building. They snuck into an alleyway and reached the backside.

"This is where we go in," he said. He jumped up and grabbed a pipe with his teeth. Using it as a boost, he grabbed the ventilation shaft beyond. He removed the grate and pulled himself in.

"Uh," he groaned. "Haven't done that in a while. Come on."

Humphrey mimicked Jerry's movements and pulled himself in as well. They went through the vent and emerged in a hallway.

"Okay," said Jerry silently. "This is it. I'm going this way," he signaled to the left, "to get up to where I need to go. You should probably head up to the second floor down _that_ way."

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Humphrey asked.

"I want you to roam these hallways to make sure this assignment goes down without a hitch," said Jerry. "If I'm detected, they'll probably put me on display."

Jerry turned and stalked off down the hall, walking out of sight. Humphrey sighed and began walking in the desired direction Jerry pointed out.

"Humphrey, you there, brother?" Jason suddenly called through the earpiece.

"Jason, what's up?"

"So, you're down in Albuquerque?"

"Yeah," said Humphrey. "Jerry and I have already begun the assignment. I don't know where he is, but he's off getting what he needs."

"Be careful, man," said Jason. "I hear the heat down there make people a bit rowdy. Don't expect anybody to take it easy on you."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Humphrey, disregarding the sweat falling off his forehead as he continued to walk.

Humphrey saw his own reflection. There was so much glass that the five Humphrey's all stared back at him, the same look on all of their faces.

Radio chatter drove Humphrey behind a large statue. A man dressed in all blue walked by, the chatter coming from his chest radio. He stopped at the hallway intersection, where Humphrey was hiding.

"Yeah, so tell Frederick it's his own damn fault!" he said. "Look, if he wants to 'try' an experiment and blow up the coffeemaker, that's on him."

"John, how much sleep did you get last night?" a voice asked.

"That's none of your business!" the officer, John, said. "I'll sleep when I feel like it."

"Okay, man. Don't stress yourself out."

John walked over and leaned against the wall, muttering, "Don't stress myself out, huh? I'll be much calmer and less-stressed when I'm putting my foot up your ass!" He yawned and closed his eyes halfway. Humphrey stepped out from behind the statue, moving slowly. John made no indication of him noticing Humphrey's appearance.

Humphrey slowly approached, getting close, wanting to be sure he was asleep. Humphrey almost gagged, smelling meatloaf and burned cheese being shoved towards his face. He began backing away. He couldn't stand another second trying to pinpoint what sandwich John had for lunch. Humphrey walked back over to the statue, and looked up at it. It was a man dressed in a black suit, looking down the hall in which Jerry had gone with a bold expression. Humphrey was still looking at it, and decided to keep moving. He tripped over the base of the statue. John, not being completely asleep, opened his eyes.

"What the?" he said, staring at Humphrey. Humphrey decided it would be best if he didn't move and pretended he was unconscious.

"Security check, founder's gallery, floor one," John said into his radio.

"What?"

"Just get your lazy ass down here, Paul!" John roared.

Humphrey remained on the ground, paralyzed by thought. How would he get out of this one?

Another man arrived. "Holy crap, John, where'd you find this one?"

"I just dozed off, and he was here all of a sudden. I didn't find him!" John said. "Where's backup?"

"Huh?"

"Damn it, Paul, when I say 'security check' I want you to bring backup!" John said.

"Well you were yelling at me!" Paul protested.

"Just call backup! Call Luis, get him down here!"

"Hey, Luis!" Paul said into his radio. "Get down here, we've got a little issue we need taken care of!"

"Humphrey, how is your assignment coming along?" Jerry said.

"I…uh…I'm doing great," said Humphrey quietly. "I've got three people on my tail."

"Well, hold them off," said Jerry. "I'm almost at the control center."

Humphrey looked up at the two men staring down at him.

"How do you think he got in?" Paul asked.

"How the hell should I know?" John said. "Damn it, where's Luis?"

"He said he'd be down here right away."

"Did he say how long that would be? Where was he anyway?"

"I didn't ask."

They stood facing each other for a few moments, until the entrance of a third man broke the silence.

"Okay, what's the situation?"

"That it," said John, pointing down at Humphrey still lying on the ground.

"And what have we here?" the man said, bending over to get a closer look.

"We wanted you to verify what type it is, Luis," said Paul.

"Of course you did, Paul," said Luis. "I'd say he's not from anywhere around here. He looks like he's from somewhere up north. Can't imagine what he's doing all the way down here. That puzzles me."

'_Just a little longer_,' Humphrey told himself. '_I just have to give Jerry a little more time_.'

"I wonder—," said John, stopping and looking down the hall. "What the hell? Look at that! The grate is open! Little scavenger, he is!"

"I was wondering how he'd got in," said Paul.

"Yeah, no duh," said John.

Luis bent over, squinting and staring at Humphrey. Something was telling Humphrey that Luis somehow knew he was conscious and listening to everywhere word they spoke.

"Hey, guys?"

John and Paul looked over at Luis.

"Lower your voices, I think he's still conscious."

Humphrey twitched an ear.

"See?" Luis said quietly.

"Should we shoot him?" Paul suggested.

"No," said Luis. "No, that's too loud. We need to deal with him silently."

"How?"

"I'm thinking."

"Should we tell the patrons?" John asked.

"NO!" Luis shouted. "No, absolutely not! I say we just move him to a confined area and keep him there until he decides to stop playing dead and realizes we're not that stupid! We'll figure out what to do with him then!"

Humphrey opened his eyes. He couldn't stay still for much longer. He had to move.

"Okay, let's get him into the confined area, and then—"

Humphrey jumped up and bit Luis on the arm.

Luis shouted in pain. "Get him off me, you dumbasses!"

John and Paul grabbed Humphrey and pulled on him, but he wouldn't let go.

Luis was still groaning in pain. Humphrey finally let go and ran down the nearby hallway, determined to get away from the three security officers.

"Attention all units," Luis said into his radio. "We've got a wild wolf inside the premises. We cannot afford to freak the patrons out. Find him, and tranquilize him."

Humphrey kept running. Things would turn ugly if someone caught him.

Two men in blue were walking around searching for him ahead.

"How does a wolf even get in here?" one of them asked.

"Don't ask me," said the other, pulling out a flashlight and peering behind a glass case. He shook his head and stuck his flashlight back in his holster. "Wolves are weird animals. They can do a lot of things you would expect they were able to do."

Humphrey walked over to them. He waited until they were facing each other before making his move. He picked up a vase on the table and tossed it over at the opposite wall. The two looked over, which was all Humphrey needed. He was able to completely bypass the two of them.

"Humphrey, what's the status?" Jerry said.

"Sill going good," said Humphrey.

"That's good. Well, just give me a minute."

Humphrey waited for a few more minutes.

"Okay, I've got the control panel. Let's hit it after I get this thing out of here," Jerry said.

After another few moments, Jerry spoke yet again.

"Okay, Humphrey, I've got our package. Not a peep at all along the way. Well done, I must say. Oh…hold on."

He was receiving a call from one of his wolves back at the hideout.

"Interesting…" Jerry said, listening. "That's something. Okay, thank you, Robert."

"What's going on, Jerry?" Humphrey asked.

Jerry paused, letting the tension soak in, it seemed. Finally, he said simply, "We've got a traitor."

"W-what?" said Humphrey, getting nervous. What had just happened?

"I don't know who," said Jerry, "but I will bet it's Jason. Still, I don't want to act just yet, but I'll have Carl asked Jason a few questions. Betrayal in this group is not acceptable."

"What happened, sir?" Humphrey asked.

"One of Robert's wolves heard a transmission being sent through an area outside Jasper," Jerry explained. "He think it might have something to do with your and Jason's little incident in Bismarck."

Humphrey gulped. After the work he had done, that message had still found its way through.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"Well, I don't want to do anything yet. It was, after all, just an audio message. If I receive any more information…something will have to be done."

Humphrey hesitated for a moment. "Right."

Jerry seemed unsatisfied. "Meet me on the third floor, now."

Humphrey saw a stairwell nearby. Up on the third floor held much more figures in glass cases. Humphrey began walking.

"Sir, where are you?" he asked.

"I'm heading to the oceanic display room. It should be the first door on the left after leaving the stairwell. I'll be right there."

Humphrey found the door in question and managed to open it. He stepped inside, noticing the blue lights bouncing all over the walls. A few minutes later, Jerry entered.

"There you are," he said. "Listen, I have a feeling there is indeed a traitor inside the Black Assassins. When we get back to the hideout, I want you to be on your guard and report anything that seems suspicious."

"Okay," said Humphrey.

"Let's go. There's a vent in here," said Jerry. "Go open it up."

Humphrey went over and jumped up to it, ripping it open. He jumped up and looked back. Jerry pulled something out of a box in the wall.

"Go!" he said. Humphrey ran and Jerry followed him as the room went black and a red light began flashing.

"Attention all patrons!" a voice said. "We are experiencing a power outage. We would like for everyone to proceed calmly and silently to the nearest exit. Thank you."

Though the instructions were calmly and silently, everyone was shouting, much like Bismarck. Humphrey and Jerry kept moving through the vent. Jerry, who seemed to have been studying the place, gave Humphrey directions through the vent. They finally reached a grate that lead outside. Humphrey pushed it off and they fell three stories to the ground. There was a small dumpster nearby. They fell into it, got up, jumped out, and ran. They hit the road and headed back to the same road in which they had come.

* * *

><p>Another three days later, the two of them arrived back at the hideout. They were greeted warmly, except for Carl to Humphrey. Jerry also broke the news about what Robert had told him. Humphrey noticed a lot of the wolves scowl over at Jason at least once during the disclosure. Afterward, when everyone left with keeping their eyes open in mind, Humphrey approached Jason.<p>

"They've found something out," he said.

"I know," sighed Jason. "I guess we'll just have to be more careful."

"Yeah," said Humphrey. "There hasn't been any trouble here, has there?"

"Other than what you mentioned, no," said Jason.

"Good," said Humphrey. "What's Carl been doing?"

"Skulking around, angry at you for being a showoff, the usual," replied Jason.

"Of course," said Humphrey.

* * *

><p>That night was not unlike any other. Humphrey spent most of it wondering about the next day's events. He also thought about Kate some more. He had to go back sometime. He decided after he stopped Jerry from whatever it was he was doing, he would go back and set things right. Until then, he had to concentrate on putting a stop to Jerry. He would, he encouraged himself he would. And then, he would see Kate again, and all would be well.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> It's all winding down now. I think this story will end up having thirteen chapters as I had predicted. Chapter twelve's probably gonna be long, so be ready for that. Anyway, I'll have chapter eleven posted soon. Until then, R&R.


	11. Final Stakes and Preparations

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 11-Final Stakes and Preparations**

The days blew by, turned into weeks and went by just as quickly. Before too much longer, it had been three months since Humphrey had first infiltrated the Black Assassins. Things were considerably, more or less, the same. Carl still hated both Humphrey and Jason, Jerry appreciated Humphrey's actions and was still suspicious of Jason, Eric was nevertheless still the same maniac, and everyone was still on the alert. Humphrey was surprised they hadn't found anything. He felt he and Jason were unintentionally leaving a very obvious trail.

Carl had stolen a 55-volt generator identical to the one that was supposed to be taken from Bismarck from a small town a ways from the hideout. According to Jerry, they had everything they needed.

"Tomorrow," he said. "That's when we'll activate the plan. I want everybody up bright and early tomorrow morning. We need to be in San Francisco by noon. We'll set everything up quickly, and by mid-afternoon, we'll be ready. We'll be successful by nightfall."

Humphrey began pondering how he and Jason would stop the whole operation. Three months he had come up with nothing that would completely prevent his and Jason's cover from being blown. The closest plan was to blow out the generator before they even left, but that would just confirm their disloyalty to the group.

Humphrey sat in his and Jason's room at dusk. He was lost in thought. His thoughts extended to Jasper, what life was like without him there, though he had a feeling. He would come up with something to stop the plan, and leave right after.

Jason entered the room at that point.

"Well, I'm all out of ideas!" he exclaimed. Apparently, he had just finished thinking about the same thing, and had no success coming up with a way to covertly prevent the operation.

"I've got nothing much," said Humphrey. "What do we do?"

"I'm not sure," said Jason. "We have to come up with something, though. We can't let three months of planning go to waste."

Humphrey grunted in agreement. They sat in silence for about five minutes.

"Come up with anything?" Jason asked.

"No," said Humphrey.

"I'm going for a walk," Jason said. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, see you."

Jason left the room. Humphrey sat in silence for a little while longer before deciding to do the same. He got up and left.

Jerry had officially grown a nearly-full trust of Humphrey. Humphrey wondered how he would react when he found out Humphrey wasn't one of them. Carl was still arrogant, giving Humphrey these icy glares as they passed each other. Humphrey had even overheard Carl speaking to Eric one night about how Humphrey was getting close to becoming a target to him.

Humphrey entered the main clearing, in which he had now walked through so many times since his first visit. There were a few wolves with him inside. They all looked up, nodded, and looked back.

Humphrey was walking by when he caught part of their conversation.

"So, did you hear about Jason?" one asked.

"No, what?" said another.

"Jerry's thinking about putting him at a lower level of service."

"Well, it's a good thing," said the other. "I mean, Jason's been acting way too suspicious lately. He always did, really, but these last three months have gotten way out of control."

"Whatever," said the first wolf. "As long as our plan goes own good tomorrow, that's what matters."

"Man, Jerry's got me going goo this time," the second wolf said.

"What do you mean?" the third asked, finally joining into the conversation.

"Normally he tells us what the plan is right away, and it usually fails, but this time he's got me all in suspense and everything."

"Yeah," said the first wolf. "I think this plan might actually work, unless someone stops it."

Humphrey grew slightly nervous at the last four words. He kept walking. He was nearly outside when he heard one more thing being spoken.

"I think there's one more thing that needs to be done tonight to ensure the safety of the plan."

Humphrey leaned back to listen some more.

"What?"

"Yeah, something with the generator or whatever. There's like a last-minute inspection that needs to be done."

Humphrey continued walking.

"Jason, you there?"

"What's up, Humphrey?"

"I just heard that someone is gonna be performing a last-minute inspection on the generator. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, but I can't go anywhere near it. They'll decapitate me or something."

"Okay, where is it?"

"In the back room, near where Jerry's room is. Don't let Carl catch you back there, as I'm sure you know why."

Humphrey turned and walked back inside. The wolves were laughing about something and didn't notice Humphrey's entrance. Humphrey went down the tunnel that lead to Jerry's room.

Humphrey was walking. The tunnel was just as dark as he remembered. He kept his eye out for Carl, sensing that he might be watching from the shadows.

One room he hadn't been in yet was one just before Jerry's room. Humphrey looked inside and saw all of the equipment that had been obtained through the months sitting inside. Humphrey went in and took note of all of it, so he knew how he would disable it the next day. When he reached the generator, he saw a plug sticking out of the back. Assuming it was important, Humphrey yanked it out. The main power cord was now out, so it wouldn't work properly. Humphrey smiled and left the room. He was still standing in the tunnel when someone bumped into his left side.

"Oh, Humphrey. There you are." It was Jerry. "Listen, I need to ask something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Since the plan is going down tomorrow, I need you to keep an eye on Jason."

"Why's that?"

"Why do you think? I want to make sure he doesn't step in the way at all tomorrow."

"Ah, okay, sir."

"Good."

Jerry turned and walked right back off into the darkness.

Humphrey stared after him for a few moments, before turning and walking back to his and Jason's room.

"Jason," said Humphrey.

"Yeah, Humphrey?"

"Get in here. I need to talk to you real quick."

Jason walked in a few minutes later.

"Jason, so listen, everything is looking good. I've got the main power cable off the generator so it won't work. Also, Jerry told me to keep an eye on you, so you'll be sticking with me the whole time."

"Wow," said Jason, impressed. "Good work, brother. I guess we'll just have to wait it out through the night now, then."

"Yep."

Jason left again, saying he still needed to get some caribou to eat. Humphrey asked to bring back some for him as well.

* * *

><p>That night, Humphrey slept good. He kept seeing Jerry's face, angered by the failure, possibly taking it out on Carl andor Eric, and he and Jason leaving in the madness, and no one following them. Humphrey wanted desperately to see Kate again. He would go back eventually. Perhaps he would wait a little longer before he went back. A little longer, hanging out with Jason, fending for themselves. Humphrey smiled as the whole image kept him sleeping through the night, and no worries about the following day woke him at all. He was determined that nothing would go wrong, and that thought caused him to roll over in his sleep and fall further into a good sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> The next chapter has it all. Don't miss it, because you'd just be excluding yourself from the action of the grand downfall of the Black Assassins. I'll have it up soon. Until then, predict, summarize, analyze, and whatever you else you do when wondering how a story will end. Ciao! R&R.


	12. San Francisco

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 12-San Francisco: Fall of the Black Assassins**

Humphrey awoke the next morning. He heard a few wolves walking by his and Jason's room. Jerry had, after all, said "Bright an early." Humphrey got up, and Jason awoke.

"Morning, brother," he said.

"Jason."

"Well," Jason said, getting up. "This is it, man."

"Yeah," said Humphrey, as they both walked out of the room to the main clearing. "Yeah, it is."

"There they are," Jerry greeted them. "I'm glad to see you two are up and ready."

"Thanks, sir," said Humphrey and Jason nodded.

"Well, once everyone is here, we'll head out," said Jerry, walking away and Humphrey and Jason followed.

* * *

><p>Once everyone reported in, Jerry announced they would be leaving and they began walking. They hit the main road in which they had traveled to the different locations and waited.<p>

"This is it," Jerry said.

They had all squeezed into three trucks. Carl and Eric were carrying all of the equipment in the back. Humphrey and Jason were in the middle truck, and Jerry was in the front one. Humphrey and Jason spoke of their plan numerous times on the way.

"I think we should stick around until the plan is _supposed_ to happen, just in case," Jason suggested.

"But that'll mean we'll have to stay in San Francisco even longer, and the long journey home will be delayed. And I want to get back as soon as his little plan fails! I want to see Kate again!"

"I know that, but we can't take any chances. I think we should stick around at least until nightfall."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Humphrey. He was sure Jason was right. It would be better to ensure that the generator would pose no threat so his walk back to Jasper to see Kate would not be worrying.

After a day and a half of riding inside a few different vehicles, they finally reached San Francisco. They exited at the first stop their rides stopped at and followed Jerry to the Golden Gate Bridge.

"Our grand tool," he announced happily. "Once this is set up for our benefit, we'll have everything we need."

He turned to the rest of them. "Alright," he said. "I want Carl, Eric, and a majority of the remainder of you to stay here and help set the thing up. The rest of you, secure the perimeter. I don't care what it takes."

Humphrey and Jason opted to travel around a bit, explore and hope to maybe even sight-see. Humphrey wanted the trip to be a benefit to his experiences and travels.

* * *

><p>By mid-afternoon, Carl announced that everything was ready to go.<p>

"Splendid," said Jerry over the earpiece. "Very good. We'll activate it as soon as the sun goes down."

Humphrey and Jason smiled. They didn't know exactly where they were, but they were nowhere near any other of the group members. The Golden Gate Bridge loomed over them, looking down at them every minute.

* * *

><p>When it was dusk, Jerry announced the activation would be after a half hour. Humphrey an Jason were still walking somewhere, they didn't know where.<p>

"So, what are you gonna do after we leave?" Jason asked.

"I told you. I'm heading back to Jasper. I'll bet Kate has missed me terribly."

"You sure everything's settled down now?" Jason asked.

"Hopefully," Humphrey said. "If it's not, I'll wait a little while longer. Maybe three months, or so."

Jason nodded in agreement.

"What about you?" Humphrey asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What will you do?"

"I don't know," Jason replied. "I think I might go back up to the Jasper area. Fend for myself until I figure something out."

Humphrey nodded.

"You'll be local, won't you?" he asked.

Jason looked at him. "Of course, why?"

"In case I need your help," Humphrey said.

Jason smiled. "Of course, brother. Of course."

A few moments later, Eric's voice suddenly buzzed through the earpiece.

"Uh, Jerry? I'm seeing something on the news right now you should take a look at."

"What is it, Eric?" Jerry asked.

"It's something about a wolf who got caught on a camera," said Eric.

Humphrey gasped and lost a bit of breath while doing so while Jason's heart completely sank, causing his whole body to shake.

"Yeah," continued Eric. "Looks like—like Bismarck! Holy crap, it's Jason!"

Jason looked like he was about to puke. Humphrey knew that it was over. Even if they _somehow_ got Eric to shut up, Jerry would still be suspicious, too suspicious to let it go without consulting the two of them.

"Jason? Let me see. Eric, where are you?"

"I'm on the east side of town," Eric replied.

"Too far," said Jerry. "You, where's a TV?"

"I don't know, sir," said another wolf, obviously close by. "I think Carl might be able to help you out, though."

"Carl," said Jerry.

"Yes, sir?" came Carl's voice.

"Are you near a TV?"

"No, sir. We're still preparing for tonight."

"Damn," Jerry muttered. A few seconds of silence followed, and then Jerry said, "Alright. Eric. Get close to that TV so I can hear what it says."

"I'm afraid you need to actually see it, sir," said Eric.

"Very well," said Jerry in a low voice. "I'm on my way."

Humphrey and Jason looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Humphrey asked.

"Nothing," said Jason. "We just need to survive until the generator is supposed to activate, but it won't. We just survive."

They pondered for nearly five more minutes. Carl asked Jerry where he was an Jerry said to just stick to the plan.

After another five minutes, Jerry finally reached Eric.

"There you are, sir," said Eric. "Take a look."

"Alright," said Jerry. "Let's see."

It didn't take too long for Jerry's voice to be heard again, so loud Humphrey and Jason could've probably heard it in the distance if it hadn't been for the earpieces throwing the sound against their eardrums.

"Holy damnation!" he said. "Jason was captured on a camera. It looks like he was disabling the control box there."

"What are you saying, sir?" Eric asked.

"Look at that!" Jerry said. "Look at that! I said stealth was the key! He is completely disregarding my orders! And you know what that means? HE'S A TRAITOR!"

There were numerous murmurs throughout the earpiece. Beside Humphrey, Jason looked pale.

"And you know what else? If Jason wanted to stay behind and help Humphrey so badly, he would've, for sure, made sure I didn't notice until we were gone. Only two of a kind would be that close in partnership. Humphrey's a traitor, too! If he wasn't he would've reported all of this instead of keeping it a secret!"

"So what do we do, Jerry?" Carl said in a vicious voice, ready for killing.

"Find Humphrey and Jason and kill them both on sight!" Jerry shouted.

Humphrey and Jason looked at each other. It was over.

"So much for all of that," Jason said.

"Yeah," said Humphrey.

"Sir?" said Carl. "It appears a cord has been pulled from the back of the generator."

"What?" said Jerry. "How did that—never mind. Just activate the backup power."

Humphrey and Jason's eyes both went wide. _Backup power_?

"Done, sir," said Carl.

"Excellent," said Jerry. "Now find those two traitors and kill them."

All was silent.

"C'mon," said Jason.

"What?"

"Just come on!"

* * *

><p>Jason led Humphrey to a nearby alleyway where the Golden Gate Bridge was in sight ahead. There were so many wolves on the bridge it looked like a bug infestation in a way.<p>

"Damn, I knew it!" Jason whispered.

"Knew what?" Humphrey asked.

"Listen, here's the plan: I'll patch into the earpiece como and send a fake message to all of the wolves who aren't on the bridge but out somewhere looking for us, and I'll tell them to meet on the bridge. It'll be easier if they're all there at once. You can kill them all that way."

"Why's that?" Humphrey asked.

"Because after you disable the backup power you can use any power it does have to take out all those wolves!"  
>"How?"<p>

"I don't know. You'll have to figure that one out on your own, my friend."

"Okay," said Humphrey.

"Good luck, brother," said Jason, and he ran off in the distance and out of sight.

Two wolves walked by.

"I knew it," one was telling the other. "Man, I knew all along that Jason was a traitor, and Humphrey too! I must say, something wasn't right about him from the start."

"I know, man," said the other. "Oh well, see you."

"See ya."

One walked away, but the other stopped. Humphrey took this as a chance. He grabbed the wolf by the throat.

"Hi there," he said in a taunting voice.

"You! Let go of me, you traitor!" the wolf said.

"Not until I find out what I need to know," said Humphrey. "How do I terminate the generator's backup power?"

The wolf laughed. "Ha! Now why would I tell you something like that?"

"Just tell me," Humphrey snarled. He was going to stop the Black Assassins, he wasn't giving up.

"I don't know!"

Humphrey squeezed harder, which apparently squeezed out all o the wolf's refusal.

"Seriously, man, I don't know! It's our group leader's knowledge! You'll have to ask him!"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, I swear!"

Humphrey squeezed the wolf's neck and bit down on it hard as he released it. The force o Humphrey's teeth sliced the wolf's neck open and he laid on the ground, dead.

Humphrey walked over and did the same to the wolf's partner. Unfortunately, the same results were given.

"I don't know where he is!" the wolf pleaded. "He goes off going his own thing 'cause that's what Jerry tells him to do. You'll have to find him yourself!"

Humphrey repeated his neck-biting routine and the wolf fell to the ground where he no longer moved.

"Now to find this group leader," said Humphrey.

Humphrey began walking. He had to find the group leader if he was going to progress. Something told him the leader had to be around somewhere. Why else would his team be in the area? The whole thing seemed all too obvious to him. But he pressed on. He had to find the leader, he just had to.

"Hello?" said a voice in the earpiece. Humphrey was taken aback.

"Hello?" said the voice again. "Humphrey, is that you?"

"Yeah," said Humphrey. He hadn't heard the voice through the earpiece before. He hadn't heard it in a while at all, let alone through the earpiece. But he knew who it was.

"Joey? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," said Joey.

"What are doing, man?"

"After the chaos and what-have-you at Jasper Park, me and Leslie decided to leave. Besides, Rob's up to no good again."

"Rob? What's he doing this time?"

"Don't know, but we'll find out."

"Where are you?"

"Here in San Francisco, on the other side of the bridge. Leslie and I saw you with a bunch of crude-looking wolves. Care to explain?"

"They're planning on doing something to the world's electricity and I joined to stop it, but they found me out so it doesn't matter."

"Ah," said Joey. "Well that explains why the wolf I killed and took this earpiece from seemed pretty content on finding you. Anyway, what do you need?"

Humphrey told him about what he did to the generator in the hideout, and what was happening at the moment.

"I'll call you back in a little while when I learn something," Joey said. "I want to help you."

"Thanks," said Humphrey. "Oh, and how is Leslie doing?"

"Fine," said Joey. "And I don't mean to brag but she's got a bun in the oven."

Humphrey whistled. "Congrats, man."

"Thanks."

"Alright, well I gotta go," said Humphrey. "Thanks for helping me out here."

"No problem," said Joey. "It's the least I can do after you helped me take down Sandusky and Reight and stop that pulse canon. Alright, take care now, Humphrey."

"I will. See ya, Joey."

Humphrey smiled and then continued walking.

A couple of voices broke the silence. Two wolves were nearby, talking to each other. One was speaking in a rough voice and looked mean and vicious. He, no doubt, had higher authority over the other.

"I don't care if you're afraid to go out there alone, get some back up, you damn coward!" he shouted. "GO!"

The other wolf scurried away, right past Humphrey, who took him down and held him to the ground.

"Who's that?"

"Who?"

"That!" said Humphrey, indicating over toward the vicious wolf.

"He's Garrett, our group leader," said the wolf. "Anything else you wanna know?"

"Yes. How are you with handling pain?"

"What? Why?"

Humphrey bit down on his throat and killed him. He walked over to Garrett and tapped him on the shoulder. Garrett turned around, but before he could react, Humphrey grabbed his throat.

"Hello," he said, very smoothly.

"Ah, Humphrey. I've been waiting for you," Garrett said in a calm tone, muck unlike his tone toward the dead wolf nearby minutes before.

"Have you? Then why were you so surprised to see me?"

"I wasn't expecting you this early. What'd you want?"

"I want to know how to disable the generator's backup power," said Humphrey.

"Well give up 'cause I'm not talking!" Garrett said, chuckling a bit.

Humphrey gave Garrett a snarling look and banged his head on a nearby tree stump.

"Okay, I admit your aggression is accurate, but it's not enough!" Garrett said.

Humphrey smashed his face into a tree just enough to cause his face to bleed.

"So you think you can make me talk then, huh?" Garrett said. "Fine, I'll tell you this: the backup power is only good as long as the main control panel is active. If you hack into the system and shut that down, and then delete the file, the generator won't have any backup power."

"Okay, good," said Humphrey. "One more thing. How do I completely get rid of the generator when I'm done?"

"Oh, no. Not telling you that," said Garrett.

Humphrey threw Garrett to the ground and punched him in the face, then kicked his face into the dirt. He pulled Garrett back up choking.

"There's a file that will cause an overload and the whole generator to self-destruct!" Garrett said. "You do that, and it blows up. There. That good enough for you?"

"Yes it is," said Humphrey. He bit down on Garrett's throat and killed him.

"Another down," Humphrey said to himself, walking toward the bridge.

* * *

><p>Humphrey reached the base of the bridge. There were wolves gathering around the entrance.<p>

Humphrey wasn't sure how he would sneak to the center without being detected, but he felt he would give it a shot.

Right on cue, Jason suddenly contacted Humphrey.

"Humphrey!"

"Yeah, Jason?"

"I've gotten a hold of what I need. Hold on."

Humphrey waited a few more seconds, and suddenly the nearby wolves all began walking toward the center.

"Humphrey, where are you now?" Jason asked.

"At the bridge's base. Why?"

"Find some cover. I just told them all to get to the bridge. They'll be walking past you."

"Roger that."

Humphrey hid beneath the base of the bridge. After a few moments, many wolves started appearing. They all walked onto the bridge. After about fifteen minutes, Humphrey was sure that all o them were on.

"Okay, Humphrey. What's the status?" asked Jason.

"All the wolves are on," said Humphrey.

"Good. Did you find out how to disable the generator's backup power?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm on it."

"Good. Sneak on the bridge and get to that generator. The sun's going down. And, obviously, don't hesitate to take out anyone who gets in your way."

"Oh, I won't," said Humphrey, as he emerged and began walking.

There were three wolves standing up ahead.

"Wait, she actually said that?" one asked, laughing.

"Yeah," said another. "On our way here, I saw her and just looked at her, and introduced myself…and asked I she wanted to do it later."

"What's she say?"

"She said she wasn't sure." The wolf scoffed. "She said she's have to think about it."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said I was a lot of fun. Told her she was the most gorgeous she'd even seen."

"What happened next?"

"She said she'd think about it and come find me. Hmm! She's not coming back. She's off to get out of the city, probably. She knows I'm gonna rape her or something. She's not coming back. What a bitch."

Humphrey walked over calmly and grabbed the wolf who had just shared his 'interesting' story. The other two panicked, but Humphrey threw the wolf at them, and all three of them stumbled backwards and fell over the railing.

"That was easy," said Humphrey, as he continued walking up the upward slope toward the center.

Humphrey made his way up, wiping out a few wolves here and there. He lost track of how many he had taken down, but he didn't care. All he cared about was Jerry and the generator.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he reached the center. Jerry, Carl, and Eric stood in front of the generator, and a sea of wolves stood looking up at them.

It appeared that Jerry was saying something to all the wolves.

"…and as long as that happens, we'll be fine," he was saying. "So, until then, patrol the area. I don't know why you all showed up here at once, but since you did, stay close, but feel free to take Humphrey and/or Jason down if you see them."

Carl murmured something in agreement.

The wolves dispersed, but stayed in somewhat of a formation. Humphrey discreetly moved up to the front.

Carl suddenly received some information in his earpiece.

"All right, I'll be right down," he said. He jumped down and moved down toward the base in which Humphrey had come up.

Humphrey walked up and right past Jerry to the generator. The screen was lit green. He tapped it with his nose. The screen displayed three options. ACTIVATE, SHUT DOWN, and POWER TEST. He made to shut it down, but a voice behind him made him stop.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Humphrey turned around and saw Jerry looking at him. Eric looked around as well, and so did the other wolves.

"Hello, Jerry."

"So, Humphrey. You were working against us the whole time. Clever, I must say. You really had us going, except Carl, perhaps. It makes sense now. No one would just join like that. They would have to have studied us for a while. Jason? He's being taken care of right now."

"What do you mean?" Humphrey asked.

"Carl left because one of our wolves captured Jason. We figured a little interrogation would be useful before we killed him."

Humphrey growled. He wasn't going to show mercy if his friend was killed.

"So, Humphrey. You're one push of a button away from stopping us. You really are a silent wolf," said Jerry. "But think about this: even if you do stop us, what will you do next?"

Humphrey stared at Jerry menacingly.

"You're from Jasper Park, and there's absolutely no way things are going any better up there."

Humphrey ignored him.

"You could still stick with us, we'll forget this happened. You can be one of us for good, and have no worries," Jerry said.

Humphrey ignored that too.

"Now, step away from the generator."

Humphrey made no movement.

"What's it gonna be, Humphrey? Are you our friend…or our foe?"

Humphrey took a step away from him, toward the generator. "I'm not working for you."

Jerry's sneer he had obtained during his attempted convince vanished. "So be it." He turned to all of the other wolves. "Kill him."

The wolves began approaching Humphrey, including Eric, who began laughing like a maniac.

Humphrey turned around and hit the POWER TEST button. The generator began winding up and roaring. Jerry stared at it and then began backing away. The generator shot a bolt o electricity out and shot a big hole in the road. The wolves backed away, looking somewhat terrified, but began approaching Humphrey again.

Humphrey fired again, and the bolt hit a wolf straight in the chest, killing him. The others began approaching, but Humphrey picked them off. Happy because he hadn't had this much fun in a while, Humphrey took out the pursuing wolves with ease. Eric and Jerry tried to approach numerous times, but backed off when Humphrey sent another blast at one of the wolves.

Eventually, the last wolf fell. Jerry and Eric stared at Humphrey or a moment, and Humphrey shot at them. Jerry took this as a chance. He ran toward Humphrey. Humphrey waited defensively and kicked Jerry in the stomach and sent him flying, but one of his claws struck Humphrey in the face before that happened. Humphrey placed a paw to his face. He had a large, red cut running down over his right eye. Jerry landed next to Eric and looked up again. Humphrey shot another blast at them. They ducked and the blast hit some wreckage. Humphrey waited for them to reappear, but they didn't. Humphrey decided it was time to disable the thing before the timer set the pulse off. He hit the shut down button, and a loading bar appeared and filled. When it was full, a new option appeared to start up the process again. Humphrey instead hit a red icon in the corner. A file came up that said WARNING! VOLTAGE OVERLOAD. PLEASE MOVE TO A SAFE DISTANCE TO AVOID INJURY. Humphrey strained and managed to push the whole thing over the edge. It landed with a huge crash in the water and caused a miniature tsunami. It was just like Garrett had said: "_There's a file that will cause an overload and the generator to self-destruct!_" After sinking, an explosion illuminated the water. Humphrey smiled. It was over. Suddenly, he remembered Jason and took off running down toward the bridge base. Jerry and Eric emerged from a pile of wreck and watched him.

"Let's get him!" Eric said, getting up, but Jerry placed his paw out and stopped him.

"No, I've got another plan."

"What?"

"Let's just start heading back up to the hideout."

"What about Carl?"

"He can find his way back. Now come on."

The two of them ran down the other side and off toward the land.

* * *

><p>Humphrey reached the base of the bridge. He saw nothing. Suddenly, he heard a shout.<p>

"We both knew it would end like this, Jason!" came Carl's voice from somewhere.

Silence.

A large blow and another shout.

"You might as well tell me something. Clear your conscience, for God's sake! Tell me something before I kill you!"

More silence, followed by another blow an more yells.

Humphrey tracked down the source of the noise.

"Humphrey!" It was Joey.

"Joey, what is it?"

"I saw something in the water. Was that the generator you were speaking of?"

"Yeah," said Humphrey.

"Okay, I just wanted to let you know that it may be contaminated down there for a bit. You may want to get clear of the area."

"I will, thanks Joey."

"Don't mention it. Oh, I saw two of your wolf 'friends' run by a second ago."

"What? Who?"

"A black one along with a slightly orange one."

'_Jerry and Eric_,' Humphrey thought, but he'd get them later. At the moment, the important thing was to find Jason.

"Okay, thanks again. I'll see you later…hopefully."

"Yeah, same here. Good luck, old friend."

Humphrey continued walking. He moved over to the segment under the bridge where he had hidden earlier. Jason was on the ground, blood coming from his nose and mouth, and fresh scars were all over his body. Carl and the remaining other member of the Black Assassins were standing over him.

"Want to end it now?" Carl said to a barely-conscious Jason. "Want me to just get it over with, so you can see your mommy and daddy again?"

Jason became enraged and made a swipe, but he was too weak and Carl grabbed his leg.

"Pathetic," he muttered. "Guess that means yes then, doesn't it?"

He raised a paw to slice open Jason's throat, when Humphrey walked up, grabbed Carl on the shoulder, turned him around, and punched him in the face so hard one of his teeth flew out. He landed on the ground and began moving slowly, trying to get his balance back and lose all the dizziness.

The other wolf jumped to attack Humphrey, but Humphrey simply sliced his throat, stepping out of the way and letting the wolf's landing be his last movement.

"That's for Jason," said Humphrey. He walked over to Jason and helped him to his feet.

"Thank you…Humphrey," said Jason. "You…saved my life."

"It was nothing," said Humphrey. "Come on."

They left from beneath the bridge, leaving Carl who was staring at them watching them go.

"You'll pay, Humphrey," he whimpered inaudibly. "You'll pay for my humiliation, and for this." He used his tongue and felt the place where he no longer had a tooth.

"Let's go this way," Humphrey said, and the two of them crossed the bridge. When they reached the other side, they noticed many people entering their houses and locking their doors.

"Here," said Humphrey, removing his leg band and giving it to Jason. "I won't be needing this."

"What am I supposed to do with it?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, but it's yours. You can keep it as a memory of me, should something happen. You can keep yours too, for all I care, but I'm done."

"Where will you go?"

"Well, according to Joey, Jasper's still not quite adequate enough for my return, so I'll give it a few more months. You'll keep your earpiece, won't you?"

"Of course, why?"

"I'll need to contact you when I do return. I'll need your help."

Jason smiled. "I'll be waiting, Humphrey."

"Good," said Humphrey. "Well, I'm going home. You probably should, too."

"Why can't I just go with you?"

"Look, Jason. This particular journey is over. Our paths separate here, but they'll merge again when I go back. Besides, I doubt there's gonna be enough room for both of us in any vehicle, not after what happened here today."

"Yeah," said Jason.

"Well, I'll see you again sometime. Take care, Jason."

"Yeah, you too, man."

Humphrey began walking up the road, set on his journey home. He would be home in a couple of days.

Jason watched him go. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He had to say something.

"Humphrey?"

Humphrey stopped.

"Thanks again," Jason said. "Thanks for everything, everything you've done, or being there or me when I needed you. I'll never forget that. But most importantly, thanks for what you did back there. You saved my life."

Humphrey turned around, looking at Jason. Before he continued walking, he smiled.

"That's what brothers do for each other."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: Well, that's it. Humphrey did it. But wait! There's one more chapter!


	13. Where It All Leads To

FRIEND OR FOE?

**Chapter 13-Where It All Leads To…**

_Present Day_…

"You ruined my plan!" Jerry shouted at Humphrey. They were still in the hideout, as they had been for a while. "You destroyed my plan, the one I finally was sure would work!"

"Yes, I know," said Humphrey. "But I couldn't let you do what you did."

"You just put a halt to my plan, and then ran off with Jason!"

"No, I didn't!" Humphrey said. After he and Jason had gone their separate ways, they both ended up back in Canada. Jason had helped Humphrey just like he asked, but Humphrey hadn't seen or hear from him since then. He had no idea where Jason was at the moment. "We came back on our own!"

"Ah, I see," said Jerry. "What, did you grow tired of him?"

"No, I just felt we needed to try to pursue our own dreams for a while. Mine was to get back with Kate."

"Ah, so you ran off to your stupid little mate," Jerry sneered.

Humphrey grew angry, but did not attack. It would be too easy, since Jerry was still too weak to fight back…or was he?

"You and your little pack of pathetic wolves," Jerry said. "You'd better watch yourselves, 'cause I've got another plan, one that won't fail. All it takes to start the preparation process is a little water. That's something simple enough for Carl. Oh, and speaking of Carl…"

Humphrey heard movement near the entrance. He turned and saw Carl and Eric standing in the cave entrance. They looked up and saw him. Carl's eyes narrowed in angry and his teeth began moving. Eric just looked shocked, but then a soft, maniacal chuckle issued from his throat.

"I was hoping I'd see you again," snarled Carl.

Eric began laughing.

"Really? Why's that, Carl?" Humphrey asked in a sarcastic tone.

Carl growled, and prepared to leap, but Jerry spoke.

"No, let him be. He just wanted to visit his old pal Jerry, didn't you, Humphrey?"

Humphrey gave Jerry an angry look.

"What should we do, then?" Carl asked, an eager tone in his voice. He wanted to attack Humphrey.

"Nothing. Let him go," said Jerry, ignoring Carl's groans and Eric's confused "Have-you-lost-your-mind?" look. "Let him walk. He'll find himself in another fight soon. Real soon. A _big_ fight."

Humphrey looked at Jerry, and then walked past a bewildered Eric and enraged Carl, who tried to bite his tail on the way out, to the exit. Humphrey left the hideout and walked back to Jasper.

* * *

><p>Humphrey walked over to his and Kate's den, noticing Lindsey prancing about with someone whom he didn't know. Had she gotten over what had happened to her and found a boyfriend already? She must be attractive. Humphrey did admit it, but his heart and mind was set on Kate. He walked into their den and found Kate waiting impatiently for him.<p>

"There you are, I've been worried about you!" she said, running up to him and hugging him. "You've been gone for three hours!"

"Have I?" Humphrey had lost track of the time.

"Where were you?" Kate asked.

"Just somewhere."

"Where?"

"Just somewhere, okay?"

"Where, Humphrey?"

Humphrey hesitated. Kate became even more suspicious.

"Come on, Humphrey. Tell me where you were!"

Humphrey sighed. "You really wanna know?"

"Yes!" she said, laying down. "Tell me everything! I want to know what you were doing while you were gone, who that wolf named Jason was I heard, why you have a giant scar over your eye, why something has happened to Lindsey, and why you've been gone or three hours!"

Humphrey sighed again. Looks like he had to tell her now.

"Okay, I'll tell you."

He walked over and sat down. She looked at him, waiting for him to say something.

He looked at her and smiled. "Okay, here's what happened..."

_TO BE CONTINUED_...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Cliffhanger! You want to find out how Kate reacts, what Jerry, Carl, and Eric will do next? Read my next story coming soon.

**SEQUEL: **Return of the Black Assassins.


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